Kitsune no Yuri
by midorinasu
Summary: The Sohma family is cursed. But what is a curse really? Is it really all that different from...a blessing? When a strange girl falls into their lives, the Sohmas find themselves seeing everything in a whole new light. Momiji in particular. MomijixOC
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I'll be honest with you, I'm really one for original character fan fictions. Nothing against them, they just arn't usually my cup of tea. When this popped into my head though I had to write it down. So, please give this one a try. I promise you won't be disappointed

Also, I've read up to Volume 22, so I am pooling my knowledge from that. There are no spoilers in this chapter, though I think there may be some further on in this story, but I will warn you if there is going to be any in a chapter and which volume they are going to be from. So don't worry. As it stands this story takes place around Volume 19 and onwards. No spoilers in this one though, I promise, that's just the time frame. So, here it goes, please enjoy….

**CHAPTER ONE:**

Yuri looked around her on the crowded street. The sun was setting and she was lost. She didn't like this city. It was new to her and she was having trouble finding her way. At least in a more rural area help was easily attainable, but here….

She shook her head as if to shake those thoughts away. No, she would find her way home, it would be okay. She quickly turned a corner, only to find her self directly in the pathway someone else in a hurry. Before she could do anything about it Yuri found herself crashing headlong into the young man. Oh no! Yuri thought panicking. She was going to transform and then she would be in trouble. Maybe if she ran away fast enough the person would think they dreamed it all. But…..

Yuri opened her eyes and found herself on top of one of her new classmates. She recognized him at once because of his strange hair and all his piercings. He had shaggy white hair and was black underneath. Yuri liked it because it made her less self-conscious about her own strange hair. A dark red color with white tips. Of course the boy's hair was surely dyed, but still. Having landed on top of a strange classmate wasn't what shocked her though,

"I'm not a fox!" she exclaimed before she could stop herself.

"I'm not a cow…." The boy said wonderingly, in an absent minded sort of way at the same exact time. And then realizing what the other had said, they stared at each other amazed.

"WHA?" they said in unison.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Yuri sat silently sipping the tea the smiling girl had given her. Tohru, that's Hatsuharu had said, Yuri reminded herself.

"So Haru, you two hugged, (or rather ran into each but still…..ahaha) and you didn't transform?" The dark haired man asked Hatsuharu. Shigure, his name was. And the other two, Yuki was the handsome, light-haired one and Kyo, he was the angry orange-haired one, Yuri thought to herself.

"Yes, that's what I said." Hatsuharu explained calmly. Shigure looked at him intensely then turned to Yuri, that same serious expression on his face.

"And you're being honest with us when you say you are a woman?" he said. Yuri glowered.

"Of course I am!" She said offended. Shigure waved his hands in front of him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but this is important…can we check?" he said with a grin. Yuri turned beet red and rose to slap him in the face. But those two, Yuki and Kyo beat her to it.

"Pervert!" they said at the same time, both punching him full in the face.

"I meant Tohru would check, of course!" he said weakly from the ground.

"Well why didn't you say that to begin with!" Kyo said angrily at Shigure.

"Yes….." Yuki said, rolling his eyes at Shigure. "Why do you always try and stir something up? Act like an adult for once…" he sighed and then turned to Yuri.

"It really is important though. It's not like any of us think otherwise, but we need to verify." He said. Yuri nodded, after what she had already learned from Hatsuharu she did understand.

"Honda-san?" Yuki asked. Tohru nodded,

"I'm sorry," she said to Shia apologetically, "it really is important,"

When Tohru and Shia returned, Tohru said to the group,

"She told the truth." She said smiling. The whole room turned to look at Yuri shocked.

"I had a feeling that she had." Shigure said slyly, "Call it, writer's intuition…."

"Oh, please…." Kyo muttered.

"It's not that we didn't think you were female," Yuki hastily explained to Yuri on seeing her almost offended expression. "It's just…well it's hard to believe there is someone out there like us." He explained. Yuri nodded, understanding, it was hard to believe herself.

"I understand completely." She said smiling gently.

"So," Shigure said, "I gather you already heard all about us from Haru. Our family is cursed by the 12 animals of the zodiac." He said calmly. Kyo glared at him, "Oh, right, sorry, the 12 animals, plus the cat." Yuri nodded. She had heard all about it from Haru already.

"And as you can maybe guess, Kyo here is the cat, Yuki's the rat, I'm the dog and Haru as you might know is the cow." Shigure finished. Yuri shot a look at Tohru wondering what animal she was,

"Oh," said Shigure noticing Yuri's look, "Tohru isn't a Sohma, be it she's a part of the 'family.'"

"I see," Yuri said, "Is it common for outsiders to learn of your family secret? " she asked. Thinking about how carefully she guarded her own.

"Not at all." Shigure said with a strange expression on his face.

"Honda-san…." Yuki said almost absentmindedly, "is a special case." Yuri looked at Tohru who still sat there with a goofy smile on her face and smiled. She really did seem to be an extremely nice girl.

"So, " Shigure said, clapping his hands together, "You know all about us, tell us about yourself, kitsune-san! "

"Yes, " Yuki said, "It's amazing to find to someone else who is cursed by…."

"I'm not cursed!" Yuri cut him off sharply, she glared at Yuki and explained.

"Yes I transform when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. And yes I have all the senses and instincts of my animal. And yes my animal comes if I ask, and sometimes when I don't…" almost as if on cue a small fox ran across the yard and into the house, jumping into Yuri's lap, curling up at once. Yuri smiled at it and stroked it like one would a cat. "But I am not cursed!"

Everyone in the room (except Haru who had heard this speech before) stared at her wide-eyed. Shocked by both how angry she got and by what she was saying.

"It was sometime after my mother had gotten married to my father. My mother desperately wanted a child and my father desperately wanted an heir. They tried and tried for a child but my mother didn't get pregnant. The years past but no child came. My father got angrier and angrier with my mother, saying it was her fault that they didn't have a child. Their marriage was falling apart. One day after a big fight my mother went on a walk to nurse her emotional hurt. As she walked down the side of the rode she saw a small fox pup sitting in the middle of the street.

"How cute…." She thought and then she saw the truck coming towards it at an alarming speed. Horrified she ran into the street and grabbed the pup and was just barely able to get out of the way in time. She rolled onto the side of the road the squealing pup in her arms.

"Thanks goodness." She thought to her self. And then she saw it. The Fox spirit.

"My dear," it said to her, "Thank you so much for saving my child! I can not begin to repay you for the sacrifice you almost made for my child. Thank you thank you. And even with a child of your own growing inside of you."

"What?" my mother said shocked.

"Oh! You didn't know?" The Fox spirit exclaimed, "Well I am pleased to be the one to tell you, you are with child. And as my thanks I am going to bless this child. It will be able to speak to my kind and they will always be of help to her. They will love her when she needs companions and be her friends always. And also I will give her the instinct and senses of my kind so that she will have something to rely on when she is faced with danger. The last gift you will find to be a mixed blessing, but that is the only way it can work. She will be able to transform into one of my kind. At first though it will come unbidden, but it time she will learn to control, this I assure you."

And with that the spirit left.

My father was overjoyed at the news, and everything between them seemed well again. But I was a girl, and he wanted an heir, he wanted a boy. It didn't help I turned into a strange creature whenever he held me. That is enough for any father to hate his daughter. My father was worse then ever to my mother after I was born and even after my little brother was born it didn't help. He left us."

Yuri stopped. She seemed to be trying to get a grip on herself; she was wiping at her eyes.

"That doesn't seem like much of a blessing." Kyo said harshly.

"Kyo!" all three men said at once.

"But it was!" Yuri insisted. "My blessing helped me many times and always having foxes with me is great. Also it saved my life once." Everyone listened intently.

"My mother, she doesn't have good taste in men, she kept picking bad ones. She couldn't see they were bad though, but I did. My instincts could tell, I could smell the danger. I could usually get them to leave pretty quickly, but one stayed and became my stepfather. Mother thought he was great, but I saw through him right away. My instincts knew right away. And sure enough, he came to me late one night. He would have done horrible things to my child's body, but I transformed into fox that could scratch and bite. He left the next day. My mother was upset, but I…..I was proud of myself. So you see, the fox spirit saved my life." Yuri finished, her eyes shining, her face flushed with anger. Kyo, like the rest of the room looked stricken, and Tohru, Tohru was crying.

"I'm so sorry!" she said to Yuri, sobbing, "that's such a horrible thing to happen! If not for being a fox, something very bad would have happened!" Tohru managed to get out between sobs. Yuri's eyes softened and she wrapped her arms around Tohru.

"It's okay, it was long ago now. And…I'm okay now really, I'm okay. Thank you, Tohru, really, but I'm okay." Yuri said soothingly to Tohru.

Hatsuharu smiled at Yuri comforting Tohru, and repeated the words Yuri had said to him earlier,

"It really is all how you look at it. A curse, a blessing, the only difference is how you see it. Is the glass half-empty or is it half full? It's a matter of perspective."

"Yes….." Tohru mumbled in Yuri's arms, she lifted her head up suddenly and looked at Yuri, "that's it! Yuri-chan likes to look at the positive side of things. She likes seeing the glass as half full!"

"That's right." Yuri said nodding. Tohru smiled and Yuri returned it.

After Hatsuharu had left to walk Yuri home, which in Kyo's mind seemed like a stupid plan seeing as Hatsuharu had the worst sense of direction at of all of them, Kyo sat on the rood brooding. He felt guilty making Yuri bring up that painful story just to defend herself. A cat crawled up on his lap and mewed; Kyo scratched its chin. A blessing? He stared at his beads, there was no way he was….blessed. He sighed, and petted the cat. But maybe he was a glass half full.

Yuri followed Hatsuharu down the path away from Shigure's house.

"Haru? That blond boy from school, your relative, is he a zodiac member too?" Yuri asked to fill the silence.

"Yeah, " Haru said, not phased by her talking to him so informally,

"What animal is he?"

"He's the rabbit, " Haru explained, "That's why he has the backpack."

"Oh!" Yuri exclaimed, "That's why he seemed so tasty!" She grinned revealing sharp, fox-like eyeteeth and then laughed. Haru grinned.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

Now, please review! Pretty please?


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So again this takes place after volume 19, after Momiji grows up, well kinda, ahahaha but there are no spoilers in this chapter as to what has happened between that and say, the most resent book in English, volume 13 I believe.

So anyway now that you know this chapter is spoiler clear, and I just want to say thank you everyone who reviewed. It really made my day.

So yeah, Please enjoy everyone!

**CHAPTER TWO:**

"Momiji, Yuri" Hatsuharu said is his normal off hand way, gesturing to Yuri "Yuri, Momiji." He said pointing to the blond boy standing across from Yuri.

Yuri smiled at Momiji who looked even more bright eyed and bushy tailed than normal. School hadn't started yet and the three of them stood in the hallway.

"Pleased to meet you." She said bowing. Momiji beamed.

"I'm so happy to meet you!" he said cheerfully, then he paused, "So hey, you know about the curse right? Yeah? And Haru says you can transform too. Is that why your hair is like that? Cause you are a fox? You sure are cute enough to be a fox! So hey, but this means I can hug you!" he said realizing it with glee. "Yay!" he exclaimed and pounced on Yuri.

Yuri stood frozen for a second. Aside from falling on Haru, which hardly counted, Yuri had never been hugged by a boy her own age before. She gulped. But standing there with Momiji's arms wrapped around her in a friendly way, was really……nice.

"Momiji, you really shouldn't go around do things like…." A voice said calmly. Yuri looked up to find Yuki in front of them.

"AH! But Yuri-chan doesn't mind, we won't transform, so it's okay!" Momiji insisted. Yuki shook his head in exasperation,

"You still should at least ask or something….." Yuki murmured under his breath, he sighed. "Well at any rate, I came to apologize to….ah….I'm sorry I don't think  
I ever did catch your full name…" Yuki said embarrassed.

"Ah!" Momiji wailed, "Call her Yuri-chan, come on!"

"You know you really should ask people things like that!" some one said in an annoyed voice. Yuri looked to find Tohru and Kyo had joined them as well.

"Yuri -chan doesn't mind! Do you Yuri-chan?" Momiji asked pouting. Yuri smiled, she actually didn't mind, she liked them calling her that. She'd never had friends like this before, least of all male ones, because of what would have happened if they found out her secret. So she had kept away, but now…..

"Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, and Haru-kun would all please call me Yuri-chan too?" Yuri asked smiling.

"Of course," Yuki said a little bewildered. Haru simply nodded.

"Yeah sure, whatever, " Kyo mumbled. Yuri smiled, and Momiji who still had his arms around her from behind rested his head down on her shoulder and smiled too.

The image made Tohru laugh, she smiled and said,

"You two look so cute! And Momiji you have gotten so much taller! You used to be a lot shorter than me and even though Yuri-chan IS a little smaller than I am, you are so much taller that her!"

Momiji smiled at Tohru.

"Yeah I guess I did grow up a lot!" he said as jumped off of Yuri and skipped over to Tohru. "See, see Tohru! Look how much taller I am than you? And don't I look good in my boys uniform?" he asked cheerfully.

"Then why do you still act like a little kid!" Kyo growled angrily under his breath, as Momiji and Tohru began to chat animatedly with each other, comparing heights, leaving him out. He stood seething, off to the side.

"Yuri -chan," Yuki said hesitantly, drawing her away from Momiji and Tohru's babble, and away from the strange feeling that was left with out Momiji's arms around her.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for making presumptions, and saying you were cursed yesterday. I'm sorry to have offended you." He said truly meaning it. Yuri shook her head,

"Thank you, but really it's my fault for getting so offended. You didn't mean anything by it. It's just…just a touchy subject I guess." She smiled at him, trying to show she really was, all right.

"I…." Kyo said suddenly, obviously trying hard to get out the next few words, Yuki and Yuri turned to stare at him.

"I'm sorry too." He said angrily, not looking at Yuri. "I'm sorry for making you bring up something painful just to prove me wrong. I'm sorry." He finished, still not looking Yuri in the eyes. Yuri blinked completely surprised and unsure of what to say. It was obviously a great effort for Kyo to say what he just had.

"WOW! Kyo you apologized!" Momiji exclaimed, completely in shock. Tohru looked over surprised too.

"What are you talking about you little brat! What are making such a big deal over huh?" Kyo shouted angrily at Momiji clearly embarrassed. Momiji just laughed which seemed to make Kyo even angrier.

"Kyo that's so great!" Tohru said suddenly, "That's really considerate of you." She said kindly, and with a special brand of Tohru smile. Kyo's eyes softened at that, and stopped trying to strangle Momiji. He looked down at his feet even more embarrassed, Tohru just continued to smile. Yuri stared for a moment, and then realized something, she looked around at the others, judging from the knowing looks on Haru and Yuki's faces, they knew too. And Momiji, he too seemed to be aware of what Yuri had noticed between Kyo and Tohru, but unlike the other two, he looked…almost hurt. Yuri frowned for moment.

"There she is!" A voice behind Yuri called loudly.

"Ahh…you're right." Another voice said a good deal quieter. Yuri turned to find two strange girls walking towards them and up to Tohru.

"Tohru, we've been looking all over for you!" the loud one said. She was a tall girl with bleached out hair and a long skirt.

"Yes," agreed the other one. She had long black hair that she had worked into a single braid resting over her shoulder. "And here we find you with these Sohmas again." She said with a dramatic sigh. Looking out the window in a distraught abandoned way.

"Hana, don't you think you are being a little over-dramatic….." The blond-haired girl murmured, shaking her head in exasperation.

"Oh Hana-chan I'm sorry!" Tohru started to say, reaching for the girl with the braid.

"No wait," the dark haired girl said mysteriously, looking over at Yuri, "you, you aren't a Sohma." She said pointing at Yuri with a serious expression.

"Well….no…..no I'm not….." Yuri said hesitantly, clearly confused.

"But your waves…." The dark-haired girl continued, "are very strange, like the Sohmas. But they are defiantly different."

"Waves?" Yuri asked confused. Tohru quickly explained,

"Hana has psychic powers, she can sense people's electrical waves." Tohru said bursting with pride. Yuri wasn't sure why exactly Tohru was so proud of that, but didn't dwell on it. She looked at the girl, Hana. Her long dark hair, her intense dark eyes, and that black nail polish……she was a little creepy. She didn't find the psychic part hard to believe.

"Oh…" Yuri trailed off.

"Tohru." The blond haired girl said, "Introduce us to you new friend properly."

"Oh! Right!" Tohru exclaimed, shaking herself out of her daze. "Uo, Hanna, this Yuri-chan." Tohru said, gesturing to Yuri.

"Hello" Yuri said bowing, "Pleased to meet you."

"and Yuri, this is Uo" Tohru said gesturing to the tall blond girl.

"Yo." Uo said smiling.

"and this is Hana" she said gesturing to the psychic.

"Hello." Hana said solemnly, smiling lightly.

"Uo and Hana are my best friends, " Tohru said smiling brightly, "I hope you will all get along well."

"I'm sure we will…." Hana said eerily. Uo ignored her and stepped past her over to Yuri.

"Wow, look at this hair, this is great! What a good dye job, you have no roots at all! And you've bleached your tips!" Uo smiled slyly, "I'm impressed Yuri-chan! I like your style." She grinned.

"Thanks, " Yuri said faintly, "but….it's natural." Uo gave her a look and shook her head in exasperation.

"Not this again……" she said, glaring at Kyo at the corner of her eye.

"Why are you looking at me!" he yelled angrily, "My hair IS natural. Besides, why aren't you looking at Haru, his hair is weird too!"

"Yeah, well, whatever." Uo said, not really caring, she turned to Yuri. "A friend of Tohru's is a friend of ours." She said smiling. Behind her Hana nodded,

"Yes." She said mysteriously. Just then the bell rang, breaking through the loud chatter of the students.

"Oh, we have to get to class." Uo said, sounding a little annoyed at the idea. "Nice meeting you kid," she said to Yuri as she, Hanna and Tohru made to leave.

"I wish you pleasant electrical waves…" Hana murmured.

"Bye!" Tohru called smiling and having happily. Momiji waved energetically back, while Haru just nodded.

"I guess we had better be going too…" Yuki said to Kyo. Kyo bristled.

"I know that you damn rat!" he shouted. Yuki just sighed,

"Well let's go then"

"Fine!" Kyo said begrudingly, but just as they made to leave, Tohru came running back.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot something!" she called.

"What is it Honda-san?" Yuki asked perplexed. Tohru turned to Yuri.

"Shigure wanted me to ask you to come over today after school, he had something he wanted to talk to you about." She said, "And also," she added with a smile, "It might be nice to have some tea together, don't you think?"

Yuri nodded, smiling. Tohru really did amaze her.

"I would love to come, thank you." She said gratefully.

"Ooh! Can I come too? Can I?" Momiji chimed in excitedly.

"Of course!" Tohru said still beaming.

"Yay!" Momiji shouted. Tohru laughed.

"In that case, I'm coming too, if that's okay?" Haru asked politely. Tohru smiled,

"Yes, please come, we'll all have tea together!"

"Just great!" Kyo muttered, "I have to spent more time with these brats….."

"We'll see you later then," Yuki said as the three of them made to leave.

"Bye!" Momiji called as the three of them walked down the hall together on the way to their classroom. Tohru in the middle, keeping peace.

"I get the feeling Kyo doesn't like me very much….." Yuri commented sadly when then had gone.

"No, "Haru explained calmly, "that's just the way he is. In fact the way he actually apologized like that means just the opposite. So don't worry." Yuri nodded and smiled.

"Come on Yuri-chan, come on!" Momiji said, grabbing Yuri's hand tightly, "Let's all go to class together okay?"

"Okay." Yuri agreed smiling, and the three of them walked down the hall, Yuri in the middle.

**END OF CHAPTER 2**

Now please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Baskets or any of it's characters.

**A/N: **Ah, so the 'meeting everyone, yay!' chapters are done, well mostly. More zodiac members come into play, but from here one there will be more plot, for sure.

Also, just want to say they're still aren't any spoilers of anything major, so no worries. Also, THANK YOU so much, those of you who reviewed! I appreciate it very much. So now go and review more to make me really happy! Ahaha, but seriously readers, please review.

Anyway, please enjoy!

**CHAPTER THREE:**

Yuri rolled the butterscotch candy that Momiji had given her, around in her mouth, thinking. Here she was, on her way to Shigure's, surrounded by really, a small crowd of people. A strange crowd though to say the least, a silver-haired prince, an angry-looking orange top, an ever-smiling brunette, a duel haired boy with a matching duel personality, and endlessly cheerful blond, but still. It was utterly surprising to find herself among a group of people like this…among people she could call friends. Friends. Yuri though about this, she had barely just met these people and already they were addressing each other like close friends. She surely regarded them as such, but it remained to be seen how they felt. They had told her their family secret the first day she met them, and likewise she had spilled HER deepest secret. The one no one outside of her family knew. That must, she thought, count for something.

Yuri thought of her mother. Her reaction when she had returned home many hours late accompanied by a strange boy. With eccentric hair and piercings none the less. She hadn't known what to think and Yuri didn't know how to tell her. How to tell her that she had just spilled their greatest secret, the one that had forced them to move to this city, away from everything they knew.

In the end though, Yuri's ever-positive mother had been overjoyed when Haru had explained the situation, at least mostly. That they understood Yuri more than she could imagine and not to worry because her secret was safe with them. Haru had left out the part about the curse, but Yuri understood why. One stranger finding about their curse was enough for one day; her mother didn't need to know. All the same her mother took right away to the 'bright side' of the situation.

_You've met people that understand you, Yuri that's so great! _

"What are you thinking about?" Momiji said in her ear, shaking her from her musings. She looked up at him; he was unwrapping another piece of candy. He smiled at her,

"You had a strange expression on your face Yuri-chan. What's wrong?" he asked her quietly. Yuri stared at him, at his genuine concern at what was troubling her. It…it made her really happy to see that. She shook her head at him,

"Nothing is the matter. I was just thinking," She said quietly, "how lucky I am." Momiji looked at her with that open, accepting expression of his and she really felt that she could tell him more and not only that, but it would help. She stared at her shoes and continued.

"When I was younger I used to think, 'What was the Fox spirit thinking!' Because you see, my 'gifts' pushed my father away from our lives and even though now I realize that was a good thing in the end and even though my 'gifts' have also helped me lots of other times, still….they hurt me lots of times too. Even setting aside the fact that I had to stay away from boys because it was too big of a chance I might transform, it was hard for me to make friends. It's hard to get close to people when there is a major part of yourself you can't share with them. As a child it was very hard for me to understand, because I was brought up to believe that my relation with foxes was a gift from a spirit, something great and yet …I couldn't share it with anyone.

_If they knew, what would they think? They would be scared, they wouldn't understand._ My mother tried to explain to me one day. But I just couldn't understand.

_But my gifts are what makes me me! They're what makes me special!_ I cried in her arms.

_I know honey, but they wouldn't understand that. _My mother said, sobbing too; it hurt her as much as it hurt me.

_Make them understand!_ I had shouted at her that day and many other days to follow. It was always the same conversation.

It wasn't till I was older that I could grasp what my mother had wanted to say, but couldn't find the words.

Having a gift isn't about showing it off. It's about appreciating it and using it wisely. Knowing when to share it and when to keep it to yourself, even if it means not getting credit for something."

"You sound like your talking about superpowers." Haru said evenly, interrupting Yuri's heartfelt confession. By this point the whole group had stopped talking among themselves and were listening intently to Momiji and Yuri's conversation. Yuri turned bright red to find that they had all been listening to her. She stared at the ground completely embarrassed.

"Ah…umm…I guess I do, don't I?" She said, laughing nervously a little. "I'll stop. Sorry." Yuri couldn't believe herself, what a fool.

"No, no!" Tohru said suddenly, shaking her head, but Momiji cut her off.

"Yuri-chan please finish what you were saying, I want to hear, and…then I can cheer you up. Haru didn't mean anything, don't worry." Haru nodded his head and everyone else, even Kyo looked at her expectantly. Instead of making her feel more comfortable, and able to continue to talk, it made her more embarrassed and more nervous.

"Well…" she said, "What I meant to say was……" She lost her train of thought with everyone staring at her like that. Momiji grabbed her hand and held it tight and smiled at her encouragingly. She relaxed.

"My point is, I understand now what the Fox spirit was thinking. True, my 'gifts' pushed some people in my life away but they also brought you all very close to me. In that thinking, if not for the Fox spirit not only would I not have met you, but I would never be able to be as close with you as I am. It's my 'gifts' that allowed you to let me in on your secret, so for that I am grateful. I feel really lucky to know all of you, to have met people who can understand me for once. That's all I was really trying to say."

"Bravo Yuri-chan, that was wonderful! You should be a writer!" A voice cheered from behind her.

Yuri turned around sharply, startled to see Shigure standing on the porch listening to the whole thing. He waved, grinning. She had been so caught up in what she was saying that she hadn't notice that they had arrived at the house quite some time ago. _Oh dear…. ._she thought.

Yuri stood apprehensively outside of the door Tohru had said was Shigure's 'office.' She wasn't nervous about interrupting Shigure at his work, frankly she doubted he was doing any work at all. Sure enough when she did slide the door open, Shigure was sitting at his desk drawing…

"What are you drawing?" Yuri exclaimed glaring at what looked like a cover for a trashy romance novel.

"Oh, this? Ahahahaha It's just a sketch for the cover of my new book in this series." He said laughing, holding out a book to her. She took it and looked it over horrified.

"You actually write this dime-store smut!" Yuri shouted at him disgusted, throwing the book at him. He just laughed.

"That's funny that's the same thing Arisa Uotani said…..but it's just something I wrote on a whim really…" he said waving his hand around, laughing.

"That doesn't change the fact that you wrote it!" She shouted at him.

Suddenly Shigure's facial expression changed. He wasn't wearing that laughing light hearted face anymore, but the serious, intense one she had seen the day before. It was almost as if the air in the room had changed. Suddenly it felt heavy, like it was pressing down on her. It was enough to make her rage stop short. She looked at Shigure, sitting at his desk, hands in his kimono sleeves, looking intently at her.

"But enough about that, I didn't ask you to come here to talk about my books. I really do have something serious to discuss with you." He gestured for her to take a seat, which she did opposite his desk.

"What is it?" she asked calmly, serious herself now. Shigure looked at her and sighed.

"I didn't want to bring it up yesterday, because I didn't think you needed one more thing to think about after everything that happened. You seemed……emotionally drained, so I decided to wait." He said slowly. Yuri thought back to how she had spilled her guts to the Sohmas and Tohru. She really had told them almost everything. Intimate things, stuff even her mother didn't know. She felt slightly embarrassed about it now.

"That's almost considerate of you Shigure-san." She said coolly. Shigure blinked at her tone. Then his eyes narrowed knowingly.

That was another thing about being a 'kitsune.' She could tell a lot about people right away, just from a feeling. It was her fox instincts she supposed, the way she judged people right off the bat like that. Sometimes she wished she wasn't like that, that she didn't rely on her instincts as much as she did. She wished she could give people the benefit of the doubt more often. But her instincts were, rarely ever wrong.

Shigure……she had pegged him as sly right from the beginning. It was easy to get bought into that carefree joking attitude, she imagined, but she hadn't. Whatever he had to talk about was important, and she was a little scared, she had to admit.

"You're sharp," Shigure replied, as if reading her thoughts. "The truth is it would have cause problems with all of them if I had brought it up yesterday. I really didn't want to deal with their protests so I'm telling you in private." He continued, mirroring Yuri's frosty attitude.

"I'm going to have to tell Akito, the head of our family about you. As I had to do when Tohru found out about us." He paused. "Shockingly Akito allowed Tohru to stay with us. But I'm not sure what the reaction will be towards you. You are a different case than Tohru. You are like us. And I'm warning you now, Akito is sure to not like this, not one bit." Yuri stared at him, thinking fast. She didn't like the sound of this. She knew whatever Shigure had to talk to her about wouldn't be good and this certainly wasn't……good.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that but…. I already know. What can this 'Akito' do about it." Yuri said slowly, trying to analyze Shigure's reaction. As she suspected it might be, Shigure's face was unreadable.

"Your memory would be erased." He said simply, and meaning it. Yuri looked at him shocked. She of course was not going to ask if people could really do such a thing as erase other's memories. When you turn into a fox when a boy hugs you, you don't ask those sort of questions.

"Isn't that a little cruel Gure-niisan? That's like holding a treat out in front of my face, asking me if I want it and when I say yes, snatch it away." She said quietly.

"Gure-nii?" he asked chuckling a little, avoiding her question.

"As a fox I admire your sly-ness," Yuri explained meaning every word. She knew you really shouldn't admire someone for being sly, but she couldn't really help it. The fox in her really did look up to him. "In that way I see you as an elder brother. Thusly, Gure-niisan." Shigure gave a strange sort of smile at this, obviously impressed by her cool retort and maybe even flattered by it.

"It is cruel." Shigure said slowly, answering her question "That is why I am warning you in advanced. Akito-sama will find out about you one way or another, and the consequences if he finds out another way will be very dire. This was you may have a chance." He finished seriously.

It didn't happen often, but her instincts had been wrong before.

"Well you tell this 'Akito' for me that my memories of the Sohma's are already very precious to me and like hell I'm gonna let anyone take them away from me." Yuri said surprisingly evenly. She was angry but she knew shouting wouldn't do anything. Besides, it wasn't Shigure's intent to get her memories erased, if anything he seemed to be looking out for her. She stood up and walked to the door.

Her instincts had been wrong before.

"And just so you know Gure-niisan," Yuri said before closing the door behind her. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"You may regret that." Shigure said seriously.

"Maybe, maybe not." Yuri replied and slid the door closed.

**END OF CHAPTER 3**

Please review


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits basket or any of it's characters.

**A/N: **Well I thought this was in need for some comic relief, and thusly we have a 'Fan-girls attack' chapter. Ahahah.

Also, Thank you very much everyone that reviewed! Oh and there still aren't any spoilers, so no worries.

Well anyway, please enjoy and please review!

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

"So the rumor that's going around is that there's a new fan club in the school." Haru said to Yuri and Momiji, in between bites of his lunch. It was lunchtime and the three of them sat outside in the schoolyard enjoying the air and their bento.

"A new fan club? For who?" Yuri asked startled, thinking of the rather eccentric Prince Yuki fan club who were always chasing after Yuki-kun. She shivered remembering the interrogation she gotten after they had caught her addressing their 'Prince,' as Yuki-kun, which was too personal for a 2nd year. However they were probably mad at the fact that he had called her Yuri-chan, as she had asked him to, more than anything else. Thinking back though, lecturing them about the unattractiveness of jealously probably wasn't the smartest move either. Thank goodness Hana had showed up to save her.

"Wow! Really? Tell for who Haru!" Momiji chimed in joyfully.

"For Momiji-kun." Haru explained in that tranquil way of his. He took an onigiri and began to munch on it, unperturbed by the look of shock on both Momiji's and Yuri's face. Isn't was long though before Momiji was beaming again,

"What! Really? That's sooooo cool! Yuri-chan, hey hey, I'm popular!" he exclaimed, tugging on Yuri's sleeve excitedly.

It had been almost a month now sense that fateful day she had toppled into Hatsuharu on the street but it already felt like she had been friends with the Sohmas for years. She had even met two new Sohmas recently. Shy little Kisa, the tiger, who followed Tohru around like a duckling and Hiro, the ram, a very arrogant boy but the way he acted towards Kisa was nothing short of adorable.

Yuri was only a moment behind Momiji, and when the shock of Haru's statement did where off, she smiled.

"That's great for you Momiji." She said smiling, but then something occurred to her. "Yuki-kun's fans must not be happy about this." She said to Haru. Haru nodded his head,

"I guess Momiji's club is a little smaller than Yuki's, plus Yuki's is more established, so they getting more standing." Haru explained.

"This seems very complicated…" Yuri whispered to Momiji and he giggled.

"So they said Momiji's fan club could do as they want as long as they didn't try to put Momiji 'higher' than their Yuki." Haru continued very matter of fact, "So they settled on calling Momiji their Knight. Because of a knight in shining armor and it's below a Prince class wise." Yuri smiled at this explanation.

"I'm a knight, I'm a knight!" Momiji sung happily. Yuri smiled at him. For some strange reason or another she felt the knight in shining armor position fit him. Yuri laughed out loud suddenly. You couldn't help but laugh at a stray thought like that. What a silly thing to think, even in a passing moment.

"Hey Haru," Momiji said, "If I'm a knight, then who is the princess I save?"

"Well I don't know about that, " Hatsuharu said placidly, "But there is more…" Yuri laughed,

"Oh Haru you are such a gossip!" she said laughing at the thought.

"Really? You think so?" he asked wonderingly.

'That wasn't really a compliment…not to mention I was just kidding…' Yuri muttered under her breath, "But sure Haru, congratulations, you're a gossip."

"Thank you," he said giving a little bow. Yuri laughed,

"Well finish what you were going to say." She told him still smiling.

"Well the Knight Momiji fan club has a number one enemy. One that they are tirelessly fighting everyday for the sake of their gallant knight." Haru said. Yuri gave him a look,

"Stop trying to make it seem so noble and get on with it." She muttered, slightly annoyed. "Who is this 'number one enemy?'" she asked. Haru stared at her unruffled, and pointed at her,

"Yuri-chan." He said evenly. Momiji and Yuri blinked.

"WHAT?" They said in unison, clearly not happy with this revelation.

"They are calling her the Temptress." Haru explained calmly. Momiji looked as shocked and unhappy to hear that as Yuri did. He threw his arms around her from behind and wailed,

"Ah, but Yuri-chan isn't a temptress! That's not nice of them to say!" Yuri leaned back against Momiji's shoulder and pouted.

"I'm not a temptress am I Haru? Why would they such a thing?" She asked. Haru thought about it for a moment.

"Because of THAT, most likely," he said pointing at them. Momiji was sitting behind Yuri, his arms wrapped around her waist and her head resting on his shoulder. They looked like a happy couple from every angle.

Momiji and Yuri looked at him confused.

"But this is….normal," Momiji said.

"for us." Yuri finished. Haru nodded, he understood. Momiji's personality was just like that. He was the type of person to show his affection physically, which was one of the reasons the curse was so hard for him. Yuri was another matter, her personality wasn't really like that but after having to keep away from people her whole life, she readily responded to Momiji's embraces. It made sense.

And it was good for her. Already Haru could see the fox girl opening up in other ways too. It was good for Momiji too, Haru had decided. But that was a little more complicated.

Haru understood, the other zodiac members understood, Tohru understood. But it really wasn't that easy for other people to understand.

"I get it, " Haru explained, "I just don't think they do." He said pointing at a group of seething girls standing across the way.

"Oh dear…" Yuri said seeing where Haru was pointing. "Momiji save me!" she said exclaimed burying her head into Momiji's embrace, laughing.

"Don't worry Yuri-hime! I Knight Momiji will save you!" he said and they collapsed into a fit of giggles. Haru looked at them, amused.

"You know, I don't think that's helping." He said to them. Yuri looked up and then over at the girls, still staring at them in the distance.

"It's not like they can hear us." Yuri said still laughing a little.

"Even so…" Haru said. Yuri smiled at him,

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself." She said, grinning, a sly, fox-like look in her eye.

"Be gentle." Haru said calmly. "It's not nice to make fun of people's feelings." Haru looked off into the distance. Yuri looked at him, realizing something new about Haru. He really was trying to look out for everyone. She smiled at him,

"I'm a little offended you would take me for someone like that," she softly. Haru looked at her,

"I don't," he said. "I just wanted to make sure." Yuri nodded. Momiji looked from one to the other, a confused look on his face.

Yuri wasn't surprised when as her, Haru and Momiji walked back to class, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her around a corner. She wasn't surprised either to find herself staring into the hateful eyes of three of Momiji's fan girls. She braced herself.

"Just who do you think you are!" the middle girl said to her angrily. She was about Yuri's height, with short, straight brown hair. Yuri smiled at her, trying to make peace.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm Yuri." She said making a joke. "It's a pleasure to meet you,….." Yuri trailed off, waiting for the girl's name. The girl glared at her, if looks could kill, Yuri was sure she would have died ten times over by now.

"I am president of the Knight Momiji fan club, Sato Ai!" she said arrogantly. Yuri chuckled slightly at Ai's pride in being president of a club she herself would be embarrassed to belong to.

"What's so funny?" Ai asked Yuri angrily,

"My apologizes Sato-senpai." She said to the older girl, "Well it was nice meeting you…" Yuri said and turned to walk away.

"Hold it right there!" one of the girls said behind Ai. This one had longer shoulder-length hair and grimace. "We aren't done with you yet." She said fuming. Ai put her hand up,

"Calm down Vice-president." Ai said, "I'll handle this." She stepped forward and glared at Yuri,

"Ehem, as I was saying." She said clearing her throat. "Who do you think you are, you evil temptress, trying to steal our dear Knight Momiji away? We love him, we really do! We aren't going to let you tempt him and keep him all to yourself!" she shouted furiously at Yuri. Yuri just stared at her. She really was tempted to give these girls a piece of her mind, but she remembered what Haru had said. And that made her smile to her self.

_Thanks Haru. I think I really did need some reminding._

"I'm sorry you feel that way about me, but I'm not trying to take anyone away from anyone." She smiled at the fan-girls. "And I'm sorry it makes you sad but I'm not going to act different around Momiji just because you don't like it." She paused,

"Besides, if you really cared about Momiji, you'd just want him to be happy regardless of if he was with you or someone else."

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? How do you know how we feel, you temptress!" Ai shouted at her infuriated and near tears. Yuri looked at her wide-eyed, but then she smiled.

"Your right. I don't know how you feel, I'm sorry for assuming I did. Just wanting the person I love to be happy, I that's how I feel. I guess I shouldn't assume that applies to everyone."

Yuri turned and walked away leaving the fan-girls speechless. Then suddenly, Yuri heard a shout behind her,

"Hey,"

Yuri turned around to face the fan-girls,

"Don't expect us to give up." Ai said cooly. Yuri smiled.

"I don't." she said and walked back to class humming to herself a little.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

Now please go review!


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Fruits Basket, just Yuri.

**A/N: **So this is a rather short chapter, but I will update quickly, later today hopefully. It depends on how busy I am. No spoilers still, oh and, THANK YOU so very much all you reviewers. So very very much.

Anyhow, please enjoy and please review!

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

_I'm not going to lie to you and say Akito was happy about all of this. Actually I don't remember the last time I saw Akito that mad. But your memories are safe for the time being, so you don't need to worry._

That's what Shigure had told her, and that's all the information she had gotten out of him. Each time she had asked something more he had dodged the question with some perverted joke, or simply outright changed the subject. After a while she had given up. That had been awhile ago now. He had told her this the day after she had spoken with him about the possibility of her memories being erased. Apparently he had gone to talk to the head of the Sohma family directly after speaking with her.

While Yuri had school to think about and she still had fan-girls to deal with, she hadn't stopped being their 'number one enemy' after their first encounter last week, but she couldn't get her mind of that conversation. As time had gone by though, it had begun to distract her more and more.

Why had Akito let her keep her memories? If he was really as angry as Shigure had said, what made him change his mind? Why?

Yuri was curious to a fault and not matter how hard she tried, she couldn't leave it alone. 'Why? ' She kept asking herself, 'And how long was she safe for?'

Yuri was so consumed by these thoughts that Momiji's good-bye hug barely registered. The three of them always walked home together, at first Momiji and Haru had insisted on walking her to her door, but as she pointed out, it was out of their way. Finally she convinced them to go their separate ways at the park they normally passed and let her walk the last two blocks by her self.

"Your mind seems to be some where else today." Haru remarked, and Yuri couldn't think of a witty reply, which in it's self, proved his point.

"Sorry," Yuri murmured distractedly. Momiji looked at her concerned. It took awhile to convince Momiji and Haru that she was alright, but finally they left her there with only a few backwards glances.

Yuri's mind really somewhere else, she so was so distracted and caught up in her own thoughts that she nearly ran into a small girl as she made her way around a tree, on her way to bench so she could sit down for a moment.

"Sorry!" Yuri exclaimed nearly topping into the small girl. Yuri looked down at her; she had gorgeous blond hair and big brown eyes. She was a shy little thing and she looked up at Yuri nervously.

But…what had she been doing hiding behind that tree?

"Are….are you friends with Momiji-kun?" she asked Yuri quietly. Yuri stared at her taken aback. Something about this girl was familiar.

"I see you walk home with him, everyday." The girl said even quieter, Yuri barely caught it. So, she had been spying on them. Yuri stared at the girl finding this all very strange. Surely this girl was too young to be a member of the Knight Momiji fan club?

"Yes, Momiji-kun and I are very good friends…" Yuri said slowly, unsure of what to make of the girl. "What's your name little one?" Yuri asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Momo." She said softly, blushing a little being put on the spot. Yuri smiled reassuringly at her.

"What a cute name! Nice to meet you Momo, I'm Yuri." She said and then she realized why the girl looked so familiar.

"AH! I get it, you must be Momiji-kun's little sister! You look just like him!" Yuri exclaimed, smiling at the girl. The girl looked up at Yuri, surprise clearly painted on her face.

"Did I get it wrong?" Yuri asked confused. Momo didn't answer, she just smiled brightly.

"It makes me really happy that you think that." Was all she said. Yuri felt even more confused. She shook her head and clasped the little girls hand,

"Come on, we're gonna get you some ice cream." She said to Momo, dragging her to a shop she knew of near by. Momo looked up at her startled,

"But Mama says I'm not supposed to go with strangers." She said. Yuri smiled at her.

"But I'm not a stranger, am I? I'm a friend of Momiji-kun, right?" she said to the girl. Momo nodded and didn't let of Yuri's hand.

Yuri was determined to get to the bottom of this.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Fruits Basket, just Yuri.

**A/N: **So sorry about the short chapter last time but the allure of the cliffhanger was just too tempting. Ahaha. Anyway so there is a small spoiler in this chapter, its in volume 13 though which is out in english now, so I'm sure most of you have read up to that point anyhow. And it's only about Momo and Momiji, nothing major. Oh, and I know I haven't said this in awhile, but just a reminder, this takes place after volume 19.

Also thank you guys so so much for reviewing! Really, thank you!

**So yeah, please enjoy and please review!**

**CHAPTER SIX:**

School hadn't started just yet and Yuri stood outside her classroom, waiting. She looked around her anxiously. Where was Momiji?

Yesterday….something had happened.

It was purely an accident that she had stumbled upon Momo. In fact she had almost ran into her. One of Yuri's worst faults was her curious nature and she knew it too. Being overly curious had gotten her into more than one scrapes in the past and owning to the fact that she had to know _everything _she had found out a lot of things that really were better left unsaid.

She had taken Momo for ice cream in hopes of figuring out just what Momo's odd reply had meant. In the end Momo hadn't wanted to answer any of Yuri's questions, she wanted Yuri to tell her about Momiji instead. She listened intently to Yuri, and threw out more and more questions in between bites of the peach ice cream Yuri had bought her.

What was Momiji's favorite color? What was his favorite book? Favorite show? Favorite song? What did Momiji like to do in his free time?

Momo really was a sweet little girl and Yuri had fun spending time with her. She didn't regret taking her for ice cream though it did leave her more confused then she had been beforehand.

Yuri wasn't sure why she thought Tohru would know what was going on, she just…had a feeling that was the case. She stopped by home to change out of her uniform and then headed to Shigure's house as quickly as she could. She found Tohru outside hanging the laundry to dry, humming to herself.

Yuri smiled at the sight. Tohru was very sweet, and Momiji liked her a lot. That was obvious. It anyone knew what was going Tohru would know.

And she had. It was quite obvious to Yuri, even though Tohru tried to pretend she didn't. She made a slip quite from the beginning and poorly tried to cover it up. Though Tohru was by far the kindest person Yuri knew, in a battle of wits Yuri could easily come out on top, even with a hand tied behind her back. Figuratively of course, though either wouldn't be too difficult.

"Tohru, please, I know you know. Tell me what's going on!" Yuri had explained to Tohru as the older girl fumbled for some sort of explanation. Finally she relented and explained about Momo.

_When a child is born cursed by an animal of the zodiac a mother will either feel a need to be over protective of her child or reject it completely. Momiji's mother was one of those who rejected her child. She rejected him with her whole body and became very ill. _

_It didn't seem like she was going to make it…..The only way Momiji's father could find to save her was to have her memories erased. When she was asked if this is what she really wanted to do, that she may come to regret erasing her only child, she said the only thing she regretted right now was having that 'thing' come out of her body. _

_So her memory was erased and she slowly got better, and now she has a daughter, Momo. Except Momiji's father keeps Momiji away from his family. He doesn't want his wife or daughter to find out about Momiji so he doesn't let Momiji come near them. He's afraid you see, of having his fragile happiness break again._

Yuri could feel the story eating her up inside. To have your mother reject you like that? To want nothing more than forget you?

Yuri understood what Momiji must feel like. That's what her father had done. He had rejected his daughter completely and left, just like that. No backward glances, and tried his best to simply forget too. But…..Yuri had her mother who wasn't always away with a family Yuri wasn't included in. And although she couldn't embrace her dear little brother, he still knew who she was. Now the strange way Momo had acted made sense, or at least mostly.

Yuri found that familiar catch in her throat as she tried to speak. She tried to keep the tears at bay, but as soon as she began to speak they came flooding out.

"But Momo….she….." Yuri managed between sobs; she wiped at her eyes, trying to get a hold of herself. Tohru, you eyes were shining slightly from tears too, wrapped her arms around Yuri.

"Yes…"Tohru paused for a moment, "Momo has been watching Momiji. She's curious about him. She….she wants to meet him. She wants to have an older brother."

It wasn't the sadness of Momiji's situation, or her pity for him that tore Yuri up the most though. It was the fact Momiji had been going through something terrible like this alone. It upset her that she couldn't be there for him when he surely needed someone.

But most of all, what made her uncharacteristically give into tears and stood sobbing in Tohru's arms was the fact that all this time Momiji had been suffering. Her best friend had been suffering and she hadn't noticed.

That was devastating. She felt like a horrible friend.

"Yuri?" a voice said behind her in the hallway, shaking her out of her daze. Yuri turned around sharply to find Yuki staring at her, his clipboard in hand, obviously doing his rounds as student council president. She smiled at him, trying to act normal.

"Hello Yuki-kun."

"Are you feeling better today?" he asked concerned. Yuri blushed, ashamed at her out burst the day before.

"Yes, thank you." She said quietly. "Sorry you had to see me like that." Yuki shook his head,

"No, don't worry about it…." Yuki began to say.

"Yun-Yun! Why don't you ask KIMI if SHE'S feeling better today?" A girl with long dark hair exclaimed. She had popped up behind Yuki, completely taking Yuri by surprise. Yuki just ignored her.

"Honda-san was worried about you too, Yuri-san. Actually I'm surprised she hasn't found you yet. I believe she was looking for you."

"She is." Someone said evenly.

"Oh Haru!" Yuri said as he walked towards them, pulling Tohru along with him. Tohru looked at Yuri expectantly. Yuri smiled at her reassuringly, but couldn't help herself looking around apprehensively.

"Where….is" She began, looking intently around her.

"Momiji?" Haru finished her question. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Up on the roof, avoiding you most likely." He said slowly. Yuri's eyes widened and she felt a pit at the bottom of her stomach. He caught her look.

"He knows you met Momo." Haru said to Yuri. Yuki sighed at this.

"Isn't brooding on the roof that baka-neko's job?" he said.

Tohru made to say something too but Yuri just brushed past her apologetic smile. Everyone except Haru watched bewildered as Yuri ran down the hallway on her way to the roof.

"Why is everyone ignoring Kimi?" Yuri heard Kimi wail before she rounded the corner.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Momiji was on the roof, just like Haru had said. His back was to her and he was leaning on the ledge. He looked so unlike himself, leaning there brooding.

Brooding.

Yuri giggled a little, remembering what Yuki had said.

"Yuki's right, it's Kyo's job to be up here brooding on the roof." She said loudly, trying to be humorous to calm her nerves but it came out a little squeaky. She watched apprehensively as Momiji turned around to face her startled.

"Yuri….." he said, looking away. The way he refused to look her in the eye broke Yuri's heart. He really was mad at her. She stared at him for a moment, him still refusing to look at her. She couldn't take it.

"I'm really sorry!" she cried suddenly, walking up towards him, he looked back at her shocked. "I really am!" she said, try as she might, tears were streaming down her face. "I'm sorry I stuck my nose into your business! If you wanted me to know you would have told me, I'm sorry okay?" she wiped at her face, feeling ridiculous. Momiji just stared at her frozen. She didn't know what else she could say to make him forgive her for sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

"And I'm sorry if you get into trouble with you father because I told Momo about you! I….I…." she fumbled for words. "You don't hate me do you?" she cried, petrified by his answer might be. "Don't hate me okay?"

"Stop!" Momiji said suddenly. Yuri looked at him startled, very aware her face was completely tear stained and even more tears were spilling out from the corner of her eyes. He put his hand to her eyes and wiped away a tear.

"Please don't cry. Okay?" He pleaded sadly. "Please don't apologize either. I'm the one who should be apologizing." He smiled slightly. "I came up here because I was afraid of what you would say when you found out I had kept something like that from you, especially after all the things you told me about your family."

"Really?" Yuri asked, smiling a little bit now too.

"Yeah," Momiji said, laughing a little bit. Yuri laughed too. She wiped all the tears from her eyes, sniffled and then laughed again.

"So you really aren't mad at me?" she asked. Momiji shook his head.

"Good." Yuri said and then wrapped her arms around Momiji.

"Please, please," she said, "let me be there for you next time." Momiji nodded, returning her embrace.

"And I'm sorry for not noticing how hurt you really were." Yuri finished softly, laying her head on his chest. Momiji looked down at her,

"I'm sorry for making you cry." He said, leaning down to bury his head in her hair.

He felt all jumbled up. When Tohru had admitted she had told Yuri everything, he didn't know what to do. He was afraid of Yuri's reaction and just thinking about that made him start thinking about his mother again. It was as if suddenly those old wounds were opening up again, that plus his fear of Yuri's reaction was a paralyzing feeling.

Would she not want to speak to him again when she learned he had been keeping something from her? He had only wanted to save her feeling sad and angry on his behalf. He had made her cry though anyway by keeping it from her.

He cried silently in Yuri's arms, his head bent into the little nook where her neck met her shoulder. They were complicated tears, generated by the hurt and loneliness his mother had caused and the happiness that Yuri had.

"I wanted her to hold on….." he mumbled sadly in her hair. Yuri nodded, understanding and hugged her friend tighter.

**END OF CHAPTER 6**

Now go be good little readers and review for me!


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket**  
A/N: **So first of all, thank you all so much for reviewing! Makes me super happy to get reviews!

And umm just to clarify something, I realized I've been saying this takes place after volume 19 but I meant to say around volume19. If anything it's parallel to volume 19. Something happens in 19 that hasn't happened yet in this story, but will. That's where this spoiler I keep warning about happens. So yeah sorry about that. Gomen nasai!

But any ways there aren't any spoilers yet so **Please enjoy and please review!**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

Yuri stood outside the hidden crack in the wall of the Sohma estate. She looked around nervously, but no one seemed to be around. Sneakily she dashed through the crack, careful not to let anyone see her.

A little more than a week after Tohru had explained to Yuri about Momo, Yuri found out something new about the Sohmas from another Tohru slip up. The identity of the memory eraser. The Sohmas hadn't been keeping it from her exactly but certainly no one had mentioned it. Shigure had even pointedly left it out once. Almost as if daring Yuri to try and figure it out.

Yuri had been visiting Tohru; Yuri visited her at least once a week now, figuring the girl needed some female company. Tohru had been telling Yuri about some of the other zodiac members that Yuri hadn't met yet. Yuri listened with interest as Tohru happily told her about Kagura the boar, who was in love with Kyo and Ritsu the shy little monkey. Tohru then told her about Ayame the snake, Yuki's brother. Yuri had been very interested to hear about him but her ears really perked up when Tohru told her about the dragon.

"I was really nervous meeting him at first, if you can believe it." Tohru had said laughing.

"Why, is he scary like a dragon? Or scary looking at least?" Yuri said laughing.

"No, no. He's very handsome and he's very kind, but I was really afraid he was going to erase my memories!"

Hatori Sohma. So he was the one.

Yuri knew her memories were safe for the moment, but she found herself wondering about Hatori a lot after that conversation. She wanted to meet this person who seemed to mercilessly erase the most precious thing anyone could have, memories.

She wanted to see for herself what kind of person could do such a thing. But also, she wanted to ask him a question. An important question.

Yuri stalked through the bushes like a predator. She really did feel like a fox looking for a chicken coop, but she wasn't out to catch a bird but rather a dragon. Yuri was getting nearer and nearer to the main house but she still hadn't spotted Hatori's office. Or at least she didn't think she had. She knew it probably would have been wise to get a better idea of where she was going, but she didn't want anyone to know what she was up to.

Momo had been the one that had shown her where the Sohma estate was and where there was a 'secret entrance' inside. Momo of course didn't know Yuri's true purpose there, Yuri had thought she had already spilled enough to the young girl. Be it, unintentionally. She hadn't known not to tell her about Momiji.

Yuri had been seeing a lot of Momo after that day. On a whim she had given the girl her cell phone number incase she needed anything and sure enough her little green phone with the fox cell phone charm had rang almost the second she had stepped through her door after meeting with Tohru.

"Moshi moshi."

"Is this Yuri?" the voice on the other end asked, the voice was female and sounded foreign, though her Japanese was very good.

"Yes…"

"I wanted to thank you for taking care of my Momo." The woman said. So it was Momo's mother. Yuri felt her heart skip a beat. This was the woman who had chosen to forget about her only son.

"It was no trouble."

"She said she got lost and you were the one that found her. Thank goodness. I don't even want to begin to think what could have happened." Yuri didn't correct the woman, figuring Momo had some reason or another for spinning that story. Perhaps though she didn't say anything because she was too in shock about how caring and kind this mother was towards her daughter. But not her son.

"All she can talk about since she has been home is you." The woman continued. "And well my husband and I are going out for dinner next evening and I was wondering if you would like to watch her. We'll pay you of course." Yuri didn't say anything for a moment.

"It's just Momo seems to really like you." At that comment Yuri couldn't help but agree. Despite everything.

Yuri hadn't told Momiji about it till after the fact, figuring it was a little too much to handle all at once. When she did tell him though that she was Momo's new babysitter he just smiled and said,

'How nice.'

They didn't talk about it after that. Both pretending that it hadn't happened. It was funny really. They both avoided talking about Momo around each other, but whenever Yuri was with Momo, which had been a lot recently, the conversation always came back to Momiji. Yuri knew she shouldn't be telling the girl about him, but well, Momo did already know, and it was Yuri's own childish way to get back at Momiji's parents. She knew it was silly and she tried to pretend it was only because Momo's sweet little face could talk her into anything, but deep inside she knew the truth.

In truth she resented Momiji's mother and father for what they did to him. Both of them. And because she was too scared of what would happen if she truly stood up for Momiji, she simply defied Momiji's father's wishes and told Momo things about Momiji.

And in actuality it was a comment that Momo's mother had made that had caused her to come to the Sohma estate.

"It really is good that Momo has you around." She had said one night, when they returned home to find Momo asleep on Yuri's lap. "Momo needs someone like you to look up to. You're are like an older sister to her."

Yuri had just smiled; it took all she had though to keep her face straight. Her stomach clenched at those words and she felt like screaming and crying all at the same time. She bit her lip in an effort to control herself and noticed the strange almost pained expression that had come across her husband's face as the German woman had said that.

Yuri knew at that moment, whatever it took she was going to find a way to bring Momo and Momiji together. She couldn't let Momo go on growing up without her older brother and she couldn't let Momiji go on separated from his family like that. If anyone deserved a caring and loving family, it was Momiji. And the thought of him, of anyone being denied one like that tore her up inside.

"Just where do you think you are going?" I voice said sternly behind her. Yuri cursed her lack of sneaking skill and turned around. Now she really felt like a fox, like a fox caught in the chicken coop by a farmer with a rifle. A tall, black haired man stood in front of her, a solemn expression on his face. His hair was badly in need of a trim; some of it even fell to cover his whole left eye. He was wearing a stethoscope and a long white coat. He was obviously a doctor.

No it was too good to be true. And yet……..

Yuri wasn't sure how she knew, she just did. Maybe it was the way he balanced himself as he took a few steps towards her, maybe it was how it was hidden beneath his hair that clued her in, or maybe it was just her instincts coming into play, but……

"You can't see out of your left eye, can you?" Yuri said suddenly. The man stopped, taken aback. Yuri smiled, she had guessed right, and she loved being right.

"How……" he began to ask slowly and suspiciously. Yuri just smiled,

"What luck I have being caught by just the person I wanted to see!" she said.

"Please to meet you Hatori Sohma." She said bowing. "Perhaps, Shigure told you about me, I'm Yuri and I'm the one blessed by the Fox spirit."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Yuri sat in Hatori's office, sipping at the tea he had gotten her and trying to slyly get a look at the picture on his desk. Noticing, Hatori flipped the frame face down. Yuri sighed.

"So why are you here?" Hatori asked icily. "You were very close to the main house, but you surely were not here to see Akito. Akito is far from pleased by your existence near the Sohmas, I'm Shigure told you at least that." Yuri nodded,

"Yes, he did. And well, actually I'm here to see you Hatori." She said. Hatori didn't even look at her, he continued to shuffle and organize papers on his desk.

"And why is that?"

"To ask you a question." Yuri said slowly. Hatori did look up now.

"What kind of question?" he asked quietly. Yuri paused, wondering how to word it.

"The memories……the memories you erase, is……is there a way to ever get them back?" Hatori just stared seriously at her for a moment.

"Why do you ask such a thing?" he asked her sternly. "Are you that afraid? Didn't Shigure tell you? You are safe." His voice stung. Yuri frowned at him, biting her lip.

"That isn't why I asked." She said slightly hurt. "I….I wanted to see if there was any way for Momiji's family to be repaired. That's all." There was a little edge to her voice. She stared at Hatori, more than a little displeased by the way he had spoken to her.

"There isn't any way to bring back memories that have been erased." Hatori said suddenly, rummaging in his drawer. "I'm sorry." And Yuri was left wondering what exactly Hatori was apologizing for. Being cruel to her or for not having the answer she was looking for.

"Though I will say it's not exactly a permanent condition." He said slowly, Yuri listened intently. "It's very rare but sometimes memories can resurface. The process of 'erasing' isn't all that different from the natural way the brain 'forgets' painful experiences, like trauma in someone's childhood or the moment of impact in a terrible accident. It's the brain's way of preserving itself. If a memory is too painful for us to deal with, we just forget. When I 'erase' someone's memory it does the same thing and the same way a person sometimes remembers those forgotten things when something major happens in their lives, 'erased' memories can come back too." Yuri's eyes lit up. Hatori walked to the porch and lit a cigarette.

"But……" he said slowly, "is that what you really want?" Yuri stared. "What do you think would happen to Momiji's mother if she remembered? If she remembered what she had done? In the best case scenario I'm sure she would get sick again. How would you face yourself, if you chose to forget your first born child?" Hatori mused solemnly. Yuri bit her lip as he continued.

"Don't you think that would cause Momiji a lot more unnecessary pain?" Hatori asked her calmly. Yuri nodded and looked away. She would have to find another way then. Hatori was right. It all seemed very hopeless. But…

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you earlier." Hatori said, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette. "I misjudged you, I'm sorry." He paused for a moment, and then smiled slightly,

"I have to say I'm impressed by your real reason for coming, I wouldn't have expected. I'm…..I'm rather close to that situation you see." He said quietly. "I'm the one who erased her memories after all…." Yuri stared at the pained expression on Hatori's face. "And…after that I began watching Momiji a lot, when his father couldn't be with him."

Yuri smiled to herself. Hatori was actually very different than the cold, unfeeling person she had expected. She realized that she had judged him wrong as well. He wasn't mercilessly erasing people's memories. It cost him dearly each time. It was obvious how much he regretted causing Momiji that pain by erasing his mother's memories. That sort of kindness, it warmed Yuri's heart.

"He talks about you a lot." Hatori said, interrupting her thoughts. Yuri looked at him confused. "Momiji, that is." He clarified. Yuri smiled brightly at him.

The almost tender moment was abruptly destroyed as an extravagant man, with long silver hair burst into the office.

"TORI!" he called loudly, striding towards Hatori but then he noticed Yuri. He stared at her, confused by her presence.

"Well…." He said, a gleam in his eye, "who might this lovely lady be?"

**END OF CHAPTER 7**

A/N: I got the idea for the memories resurfacing from a truly lovely story by Applehappy, called Recovery. You should all check it out if you get a chance. Her other stories too cause she is a fabulous writer!

So anyway……

Please review if you want to make me really happy!


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket

**A/N: **Well not much to say for once, only that there are no spoilers and this is mostly a fun, comedic relief chapter. Well anyway I hope you all enjoy and I hope you all try to find something to review about. Suggestions would be welcome. I will finish this up but it leaves to be seen how long I will keep it going. At this point I have two ways I could go with this story to get to the end I have planned and if no one is really reading this or interested I'll tie it off in the next two or three chapters. So, yeah.

Please enjoy and please review.

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

Yuri stared open mouthed at the two overly frilly outfits being held in front of her.

And she had to choose one to wear? Excuse me?

At least they weren't trying to force her into a maid's uniform. No, wait. The one on the left defiantly was a maid's uniform. There was no way they were getting her into that.

Yuri sighed. And vaguely wondered what she did to get herself into these messes.

Yuri had met Ayame the day before, when he had barged into Hatori's office. He had talked animatedly with her for awhile, well, talked at her rather. Though try as she might, she couldn't actually remember much past his extravagant introduction of himself. She hadn't meant to tune him out but Ayame's personality was that overwhelming.

"I am Sohma Ayame, and it is a pleasure to meet you! And you are the fox that Shigure has been telling me about I presume?" he had said striking a pose. "You're hair gave you away." He told her in a hushed voice. Yuri smiled wryly at him, unsure of what to make of this silver haired man. The only other part of the conversation she recalled clearly was that he had invited, insisted rather, she come to his shop the next day. And probably the only reason she remembered that was because of the purple business card with red roses on it that he had handed her.

Not only that but he had insisted she bring his _'dear little brother_' and Tohru, '_of course'_. Tohru had been very much obliging to accompany her to Ayame's shop, Yuki was another matter. In the end he agreed to come, but only on the grounds of 'protecting' her and Tohru. Yuri was confused by this. Ayame was certainly an interesting person but

she hardly thought Tohru and herself were in need of protection. She didn't say anything about it though, seeing as it was the only way Yuki would agree to come with them. However she couldn't resist poking a little fun at him,

"You do know though Yuki, you're the Prince. You only have to _marry _princesses. Momiji being the Knight is the one that _saves_ them." He had laughed at that.

When they arrived at the shop Yuri wasn't sure what to expect. At first glance it seemed to be some sort of fabric store but then a strange woman came dashing out of the back room.

"Hello Tohru! Hello Yuki!" the woman said. Yuri couldn't help but stare; she was wearing one of those frilly maid outfits, complete with the lacy headband.

_Exactly what kind of store is this…?_

Tohru and Yuki greeted the woman as if they knew he well, and then introduced her to Yuri. Her name was Karumai Mine and she was Ayame's assistant. An assistant to what exactly, she had yet to find out. She seemed very gentle and sweet, but suddenly the be-speckled woman turned to Yuri, a strange glint in her eye.

"You! Do you like to dress up?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"Excuse me?" Yuri asked nervously, not liking that glint in Mine's eyes.

"Oh! Ahaha, it looks like Mine has got Yuri in her clutches! There is no stopping her now! Ahahah…." Ayame said appearing out of no where.

"Do something brother!" Yuki said on edge. Yuri didn't like the sound of this.

"I'm sorry Yuki! There's nothing I can do! It's out of my hands!" Ayame said laughing in his usual way.

"Don't tell me this was your plan all along!" Yuki said angrily. Yuri wasn't sure what was going on, and by this point Mine had begun to drag her away. And Yuri wondered, almost alarmed, what was going to happen to her? What ever it was it had Yuki steamed.

"Oh really little brother!" Ayame exclaimed. "You know Mine just _has _to dress up every cute girl she sees! There's nothing I can do about it! Ahahahaha!"

_Oh my……._

Now Yuri was in the back getting helped into the outfit on the right because she had refused to be put into a maid's uniform. Though it really wasn't much better. It was a dark, midnight blue and complimented her red hair nicely. Pinks and reds didn't look good on her so she was grateful for that. Although it was frillier that she would have liked and had more lace that she would have thought possible. Despite it all, it was a very intricate and well-made garment

As Mine tied the ribbon in the back, Yuri turned her head to look at the woman.

"Did you make this dress?" Yuri asked. Mine looked up at her and smiled.

"Well Ayame designed it but yes, I made it." She replied smiling, adjusting the choker necklace made of black lace.

"Well, that's impressive. I imagine a dress like this would be very hard to make." Yuri said thoughtfully. "And though not exactly my taste, it's very beautiful." she admitted. Mine beamed at her.

"Wow! I got a compliment!" she exclaimed. "How wonderful!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

When Yuri was pushed out into the room by Mine she was greeted with the sight of Yuki and Ayame in the middle of a heated sibling argument. She turned her attention away from that for a moment when she realized that someone new had joined them. It was a girl, maybe a few years younger than Ayame, Hatori and Gure-nii. She sat next to Tohru in a delicate pink kimono.

Yuri walked towards them to introduce herself to the new girl. When the girl turned to face her though she realized something with a start. With her instincts she could tell right away. She stared.

It was a man.

"You…you're staring at me." The man said. Yuri blinked. The man's face contorted and he stood up suddenly.

"I've done something wrong!" he screamed. "I'm SOOOO SOOORRY! Oh god, please forgive me, its all my fault! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry you have to breath the same air as me! I'm so sorry!" the man yelled at the top of his lungs, flailing about. Before Yuri could get a word in edge wise, the man promptly tripped on the hem of the rug and fell flat on his face.

After which Tohru helped him up, careful not to hug him, and calmed him down. Then Yuri finally had the pleasure of meeting shy little Ritsu. When introductions were made Mine went to busy herself with tea. In which time Yuri had the opportunity to describe her situation with the fox spirit.

"That's really so kind of you to come all the way out here to see me Ritsu." Yuri told him kindly.

"Oh!" Ritsu said startled and blushing, "it really wasn't any trouble, and I wanted to meet you. Ayame said you were coming and that if I wanted to meet you this might be my only opportunity, so I rushed out here and…." Ritsu mumbled shyly, not liking being put on the spot.

"You shouldn't let my brother push you around like that!" Yuki interjected.

"Now!" Ayame said loudly, talking over his little brother. "In all that commotion….."

"I'm SO SORRY!" Ritsu yelled, clearly ashamed of himself.

"Now, now, don't interrupt." Ayame said waving his hand,

"I'm…" Ritsu began again to apologize. Ayame elegantly held up his hand in a halting motion.

"As I was saying, in all that commotion Yuri didn't get to get admired in her outfit!"

Yuri felt as if a spotlight had been turned on her. She had forgotten she had been wearing that frilly thing. Sighing, she wondered how she could have even for a moment, forget she was wearing such a cumbersome outfit.

"I'm SOO SORRY, I should have complimented you right away!" Ritsu began at maximum volume. Luckily he was interrupted by Mine coming back, but not only with tea, but two people. She led them in and Yuri was startled to find it was Momiji and Haru. They stared as they noticed what she was wearing. Yuri blushed deeply, embarrassed that even more people were seeing her like this.

"Oh! This is wonderful!" Ayame called, striding over to Haru and Momiji. "You two came to visit my store! So…"

"No." Haru interjected calmly.

"What do you think….." Ayame trailed off as the reply he hadn't waited for set in.

"We came to protect Yuri-chan!" Momiji cheered happily. Again he and Haru looked at her outfit. She was sure her face was now the color of her hair.

"Hatori told us you forced her into coming here today. I didn't realize Yuki and Tohru were coming though…." Haru said evenly and then looked up at the ceiling.

"That's very sweet that you two were worried about me, but…." She was cut off by Ayame.

"Really! I take offense to that!" Ayame exclaimed. Everyone just ignored him.

"You look really nice." Haru told Yuri, stepping around Ayame.

"Yes! You look adorable!" Tohru agreed happily.

"Of course she does!" Ayame put in. Yuri blushed heavily.

"Oh, no….really….I…." she mumbled, extremely embarrassed. She felt stupid for mumbling like that, she was always one to have just the right reply to everything. She really couldn't stand everyone staring at her like that though. "Surely not…"

"Really," Momiji said smiling, "Yuri-chan looks really cute!" Yuri blushed, if possible, even deeper.

"See Haru," Momiji said turning to the now only slightly taller boy, "I told you it was a good idea that we came. We wouldn't have got to see Yuri-chan looking so cute otherwise!" Haru nodded.

Ayame then began rambling on about something to do with Yuri being the perfect image of something or other, although Mine appeared to be the only one paying attention. And though Ritsu and Tohru appeared to be trying, neither of them seemed to be following exactly.

Yuri smiled to herself, once again amazed at the situation. Here she was surrounded by a group of cheerful…friends. It was strange really, when she thought about it. She could never have imagined something like this. She felt extremely lucky to have friends like she did.

She looked around, Ayame stood talking loudly about something, Mine, Ritsu, ad Tohru crowded around him. Haru sat next Yuki the two of them discussing something. And Momiji, Momiji tugged on her sleeve, startling her.

"Come Yuri-chan, come on! Sit down with me and have some tea!" he said. She smiled at him.

"Okay."

**END OF CHAPTER 8**

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket

**A/N**: So umm there are **spoilers in this chapter**. So you need to have read Volume 17 at the very least. The timing of this chapter is around there too. So umm in case your confused, cause I've been saying something different in other authors notes, sorry about that, but this story starts off with when Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki begin their 3rd year and Momiji and Haru begin their second and go on from there. Right now its up to New Years, around volume 16/17. I was saying 19 before cause that's the volume that Momiji gets taller, so that's the picture of him I had in mind for this. So just pretending he's like that earlier I guess.

Sorry about it if there was any confusion, though the time frame isn't that big of a deal probably.

Sorry I guess I talked a lot, ahahah……well **Please enjoy and please review!**

**CHAPTER NINE:**

Yuri shivered in the chilly air, the wind blowing her long hair every which way and into her eyes. Sighing she grabbed her flowing strands of hair and worked them into a tight braid, which she set over one shoulder. Quickly she wrapped her light gray scarf tightly around her neck, keeping her hair in place and securing her warmth.

She searched her pockets for the address Tohru had written down for her. It was New Years and Yuri was going to visit Tohru at Kyo's master's place where she was staying for the weekend while all the other Sohma's were at the main house. Yuri shivered again, though the chilly breeze had died down.

Yuri had been by the main house earlier that day; she had sneaked in actually, to visit with Momiji, Haru and the others for New Years. Her visit had been gone well and she had been successful at not being caught, at least until she had made to leave. She had gotten a little lost in the maze that was the Sohma estate. She had just begin thinking she should have taken Momiji up on his offer to walk her out when she came across a circular window with a dark haired person hanging out it. They wore a plain man's kimono and they had a bird perched on their out stretched finger. The whole scene seemed very symbolic to her. Yuri took a step closer. The person, hearing her, quickly turned to shoot her a look. They looked her up and down and then their eyes narrowed hatefully. Something about the way this person stared at her, with in some sort of jealous rage. Yuri could tell, this was a woman. The second the thought occurred in her head it seemed obvious, and she wondered why she didn't think it to begin with. But who was this woman with cropped hair and dressed in man's clothes and why did she seem to dislike Yuri so much when she didn't even know her.

"You!" the woman said angrily, "You are the fox that is trying to steal my Juunishi away from me! You dirty slut; you stay away from them! They're mine!"

Yuri felt her hackles rise, she had never been insulted that way. When the fangirls had called her a temptress, it had been different. The whole situation had been a lot more innocent, childish. This woman, she meant what she said.

"And who are you, to say they belong to you?" Yuri asked calmly, but extremely angry and offended. This woman didn't know even know her and she was calling her a slut?

The woman gave her the dirtiest glare,

"How dare you?" she shouted, grabbing for Yuri. Yuri easily dodged the woman's lunge. This made the woman laugh wickedly.

"You….you want to know who I am?" she said with venom. "I…I am God!"

Yuri just stared at her. This woman….this woman was insane.

"I am Sohma Akito." The woman continued evilly. "And the Juunishi belong to me!"

Yuri stared at her shocked.

"What…." Yuri squeaked out. She didn't know what to think. She had assumed, the way that Shigure had talked about Akito that the head of the Sohma family was male. Perhaps that was what Shigure had wanted her to think….

This weak looking, jealous, and obviously lonely person was the head of the Sohma family. Akito stared at Yuri's shocked face smugly.

"What do you know of the Sohma family? What do you really know?" she asked Yuri wickedly. Yuri stared, what did she know? This curse……what did she really know about it. Perhaps there was more than she thought. She thought about the old zodiac legend and Akito's pervious comment about being 'God.' If Akito was the God in the old story then what exactly did that mean. It obviously accounted for why they seemed to follow the orders of such young and unstable person.

"Why did you let me keep my memories?" Yuri burst out suddenly, the question that had been burning in her mind. Akito stared at her, her features contorting from her intense anger.

"It's not like I had any choice in the matter!" she spat at Yuri, Yuri blinked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"That stupid 'blessing' of yours makes you immune to Hatori's mind wipes!" Akito shouted at her angrily. Yuri just stared at her alarmed by this news. She breathed a sigh, a more then a little happy to know she was truly safe. If it had been up to Akito, she surely would have lost all her precious memories of the Sohmas.

"Why is it you hate me so much?" Yuri asked quietly. "You don't even know me."

Apparently the wrong thing to say. Akito went into a rage.

"I know your kind! I know what you're like! You're just trying to take them away from me! But you can't have them! I hate any woman like you trying to get close to them! They belong to me! You stay away from them! I know what you are about!" Frantic Akito went at Yuri, obviously trying to hurt her. Startled by how scary the fragile looking woman could be, Yuri backed away. Still, Akito tried to get at Yuri, but she was leaning too far out the window. In an instant she was going to fall, Yuri didn't know what do to. She made to grab the raging woman, but she was beat to it.

Out of nowhere Shigure appeared to catch Akito. He grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her from falling and set her back inside.

"You'll catch a cold if you sit too much longer by an open window like that Akito." he said smoothly, "Now, I think Yuri must be on her way." He grabbed Yuri by the arm and steered her quickly away Akito.

"Shigure! Shigure!" Akito called angrily after them but Shigure paid her no mind. Yuri looked up at him mystified; he had that rare serious expression on his face again.

"Gure-niisan" she began. Shigure hushed her.

"Don't call me that while we are still within ear shot." He said quietly. Yuri raised an eyebrow as they continued walking.

"I don't think we need to distress Akito any more in one day." He explained. Yuri snorted.

"Excuse me, but **she **was the one that tried to kill me, not the other way around." Shigure gave her a look at the 'she.'

"I don't believe I told you Akito was a woman, and I doubt either Hatori or Ayame mentioned it, and you haven't met Kureno yet…." he trailed off. Yuri shook her head.

"I figured it out for myself."

"Woman's intuition?" Shigure asked laughing. Yuri cracked a smile.

"Perhaps, but more likely it was my fox intuition."

"Your instincts really are a marvel…." Shigure mused to himself. Yuri shook off the compliment.

"You make it sound like it is some big secret, Akito being a woman." Yuri said.

"It is." Shigure said softly. Yuri found this extremely strange, but it explained the way Shigure had referred to Akito before.

"Who knows about it?" she asked.

"Only Hatori, Ayame, Kureno, and myself."

Yuri was about to ask about this Kureno, the bird she assumed, who no one ever mentioned, when something suddenly occurred to her.

"You knew didn't you?" she said angrily to Shigure, he looked at her confused.

"Knew what?"

"Knew that because of my blessing my memories couldn't be erased! And there you were saying things like, 'you're safe…for the time being.' I can't believe you! Were you trying to scare me or what?" Strangely enough Shigure smiled and laughed.

"So she told you huh?" he asked, still laughing. Yuri just gave him a look and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, " he said with a glint in his eye and a wry smile, "Who do you think informed Akito that your blessing would protect you from getting your memories erased?" he asked. Yuri stared at him unbelieving.

"You made it up?" she asked shocked.

"Well," Shigure said grinning. "There's no proof that it's not true, but yeah." He laughed. Yuri couldn't believe his gull. Once again she found herself secretly really impressed with Shigure.

Yuri pulled the sheet of paper Tohru had given her out of her pocket. Aha! Yuri began to uncrumple it to read the address when she was suddenly grabbed from behind into a tight hug.

"Kyo! My love!" A girls voice shouted in her ear. Startled Yuri turned around to face the girl, and found herself looking into a pair of equally confused gray eyes.

"You aren't Kyo." She said stating the obvious, letting Yuri go.

"Do I look like a man to you?" Yuri replied tartly. The girl shook her head.

"Sorry, I just saw the red hair from behind and assumed."

"Do you jump on every red-haired person you see like that? There are other red-head's in Japan you know. It's called hair dye."

"I'm sorry!" The girl apologized, clearly feeling bad about it. "It's just your so close to Shisou's house…..and….."

Yuri smiled, softly, realizing it was a legitmate mistake.

"No hard feelings." She said. "Let me guess, your Kagura right?" Yuri asked putting the pieces together. Kagura's face lit up.

"Yes! How did you know?" She exclaimed smiling. Yuri laughed.

"Well the 'Kyo, my love!' clued me in. I'm Yuri by the way. Pleased to meet you Kagura."

"Oh! So _you're _Yuri. I've been waiting to meet you!" Kagura explained smiling. "Come on! I'll take you to Shishou's, that's where you're going right? To see Tohru? Me too. And Rin is there too. We can all visit together! It will be a lot of fun."

Yuri smiled, Kagura was just as Tohru had described. Yuri took Kagura's hand,

"Let's go then."

**END OF CHAPTER 9**

Please reivew.


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket

**A/N: **Well not much to say for much, ahahah. Only that you would have need to read at least volume 17. Anyway, please enjoy and please review.

**CHAPTER TEN:**

Humming to herself Yuri followed Kagura through the halls of Kazuma-san's dojo. He had been a very kind and laid back person, the complete opposite of Kyo, but she could see how they got along so well. Only a certain type of person could deal with and understand Kyo the way that….

"Here we are!" Kagura called gleefully, shaking Yuri from her musings. Kagura slid open the door to reveal a smiling Tohru and a distant looking girl with long dark hair. Tohru was trying to speak with her but the girl simply ignored her and continued to draw in her sketchbook.

"Tohru!" Kagura called happily, plopping down next to her friend. Tohru smiled at her.

"Hello Kagura, did you have a good New Years?"

"Oh yes!"

Yuri walked into the room and sat down as well. She smiled at Tohru and Kagura,

"Hi Tohru,"

"Yuri-chan!" Tohru exclaimed, "It's so nice of you to come and visit me!"

"I trust you have had a good New Years?" Yuri asked her, secretly pleased at how happy Tohru was to see her.

"Yes! It was wonderful! Shishou-san has been so kind to let me stay here."

As Tohru was talking, Yuri let her eyes stray to the other girl, who still hadn't spoken yet. In fact she was ignoring the fact that there were other people in the room all together. Kagura pouted at the girl.

"Please don't be so cold Rin!" she exclaimed, then she paused, "Oh!" she said suddenly, realizing something. "Yuri, this is Sohma Isuzu! But we all call her Rin."

Yuri peered at the girl. She certainly _was_ a cold girl. And then….where had she heard that before…..Yuri gasped.

"Y-you're Rin?" she said before she could stop herself. She bit her lip, now wishing she hadn't said anything. Rin looked up at her for the first time since Yuri had arrived. Rin didn't say anything but regarded Yuri coldly. And then…

"I am. What of it?" Rin asked, standing up. Yuri took in this strange girl, everything about her, screamed, 'Leave me alone!' She was tall, scantily dressed and her aura was enough to make you shiver of cold. This girl was frigid enough to make you think you had walked into an icebox. And she had been the one to hurt Haru so deeply.

Yuri could feel her insides coiling with anger at this girl, a girl she didn't even know. But….she had had hurt Haru. Kind, looking out for everyone, laid back Haru. She wanted to give this girl a piece of her mind. Haru didn't deserve that! But…

Yuri knew she shouldn't get involved. It would end up, she was sure, hurting Haru even more.

And it scared her this anger. It scared her, because it made her think of Akito's anger and hatred for her. It had shocked her how such hate could develop for someone you didn't even know. But in the end, Yuri supposed that was the way of it.

Because if you really _know _a person it's harder to hate them. Really.

"It's nothing." Yuri replied, trying to reign all that anger in. Rin raised an eyebrow and then after an awkward silence walked swiftly out of the room. Tohru looked after her mournfully.

"Don't worry about it Tohru." Kagura said comfortingly. "That's just Rin's personality…"

"Y-yes….I suppose…" Tohru said hesitantly, she smiled and tried to change the subject. "Ah…um…Yuki was just here! We had a nice visit….."

"Yun-chan was here really? That's too bad we missed him!" Kagura said disappointed. Yuri nodded, distracted by thoughts of Haru. Besides she had just seen Yuki at the main house, so it wasn't like she had missed her opportunity to see him over New Years.

"What's wrong?" Tohru asked worried. Yuri looked up, both Tohru and Kagura were looking at her concerned. Yuri sighed. There was so many turbulent things going on inside her head, encountering Rin seemed the least of her worries.

"This curse…" she began, seriously. She wasn't sure why that came out of her mouth, but once it did there was no stopping it. "what is it exactly?"

Kagura and Tohru looked troubled. Both of them refused to look her in the eye. Kagura tried to cover it up by laughing, but it was a weak effort.

"W-what ever do you mean?" she said. Yuri bit her lip, wishing for the second time since she had arrived at Kazuma's place that she had thought a little more before she had opened her mouth. It really wasn't like her!

"…" Yuri didn't know how to put it. "Akito….is…." Yuri stopped; she didn't know what to say. "Akito he….he said the Juunishi _belong_ to him. W-what did he mean by that?"

Kagura avoided her eyes; she looked at the floor, troubled. Yuri really wished she hadn't brought it up. She wished she had just nagged Shigure for more information. But try as she might she hadn't gotten anymore out of the dog. He and just walked her to the gate, deflecting all her questions and sent her way with a smile.

"Y-you spoke with Akito?" Tohru asked suddenly. She looked anxious and worried. Yuri nodded slowly. Yuri didn't want to tell Tohru anymore, that Akito had practically tried to kill her. Tohru worried too much as it was. So she pressed Kagura again.

"What exactly _is_ Akito to the Juunishi?" Yuri asked fervently.

"We…we all have Bond with Akito. There is a connection. We will always be with him, forever. That is our curse " Kagura said slowly. She still didn't look at Yuri.

"He is God?" Yuri said, it was a statement more than it was a question. "The way you are the boar from the old story, he is God." Kagura nodded, slowly and sadly.

"Does Yuri-chan want to break the curse?" Tohru said suddenly. Her face was flushed and she looked excited. "Is that why she is asking?"

Yuri looked back a Tohru slightly stricken. Is that why she was asking? Why _was_ she asking? Was it simply to feed that damn curious nature of hers?

Did she want to find a way to break the curse?

Of course she wanted her friends to be free of those bonds. She had heard about Kana after she had met Hatori and she had heard plenty of other stories of things the Sohma's had gone through because of the curse, because of Akito. Of course she didn't want that for then. But….

If the Sohma's were released from their curse…….she would be alone again. That thing that she had in common with the Sohmas, that made her close with them, would be gone. Not only that, but she wouldn't be able to hug them anymore.

Which seemed in it's self a trivial thing, but really if the curse were broken, she would be alone again. In a world of little to no human contact again.

In her heart, if she was honest with herself, no she really didn't want the curse to be broken.

Yuri had expertly, in her opinion, changed the subject and the rest of the visit had managed to be a pleasant one. Although now, she sat, in the dead of winter, alone in the park, crying on a bench.

She….she felt like a horrible person. She had tried, really she had! She had wanted to want whole-heartedly for the Sohma curse to be broken, but she couldn't manage it. Half of her, not to mention the louder half, really didn't want that to happen. She really didn't want to be alone again.

She really couldn't stand it.

"Ne-chan looks like she needs a hug." A small voice said beside her. Startled, Yuri turned to find Momo.

"Momo! What are you doing here?" Yuri exclaimed shocked.

"I came to find Ne-chan to wish her a happy New Years, but I found you instead having a sad one, all alone." Yuri smiled at the girl. Momo really never ceased to amaze her. She wrapped her arms tightly around the girl.

"Thank you Momo." Yuri told her, thinking that the girl couldn't imagine how true her first statement had really been. When she had finally let the girl go, Momo had asked her,

"So what's wrong Ne-chan? The new year has barely started! And you don't want to bring it in by being sad!"

"You're right…." Yuri had agreed. Momo looked at her expectantly. It seems she wasn't getting out of it.

"I…I just feel like a horrible friend…." Yuri began and without meaning to she also began to cry again. "I feel so selfish….." Momo shook her head.

"Ne-chan isn't a horrible friend! I think Ne-chan is the best!"

"Thanks Momo." Yuri mumbled , hugging the girl tightly.

Yuri felt overwhelmed. She had had everything wrong. The Sohma curse really wasn't what she had thought it was. Everything felt twisted and wrong. She felt all twisted out of shape herself. Right when she thought she understood her place somewhere, right when she thought she knew something about someone else, about herself, it got turned on it's end. It almost seemed like her happiness was winding down, like it was on a timer.

But she wasn't going to cry anymore about this.

She wanted her friends to be free, to be happy, to not live under the weight of their curse. She would just have to accept that the lifting of their curse would cause her sadness. That selfish, ugly part of her that wished for her own happiness above her friends' happiness…she would just have to accept it. A part of her she didn't like, a part of her she hated, but a part of her none the less.

For now she would just have to hope for _everyone's _happiness.

It had been her New Year's wish after all.

**END OF CHAPTER 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruits Basket

**A/N:** Well just want to say **thank you all for reviewing**! And umm this chapter takes place around volume 19/20, no spoilers though I think, beyond 17 though, where earlier chapters have revealed stuff. So yeah, PLEASE ENJOY AND PLEASE REVIEW!

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

Hatsuharu and Yuri stood outside of their classroom where the three of them normally met. It was only the two of them today though, as Haru had just finished explaining, Momiji hadn't shown up for school yet. Now Haru stared down at Yuri's hands, annoyed, and Yuri looked absent-mindedly out the window, lost in her thoughts.

New Year's seemed a long way off to Yuri now. She had felt different since then though, like something in her had changed dramatically. She had been trying so hard to break the curse since then. It was almost as if realizing that fault in herself she was doing everything in her power to contradict it. She had been bothering Shigure endlessly, but he didn't seem to know anything, at the least, he wasn't saying.

A few days ago Hiro had gotten the new Mogeta movie on DVD and he and Kisa had taken it over to Shigure's to watch it with Tohru. Kisa had invited Yuri to watch too, but during the movie she had slipped out to bug Shigure some more. When she had slid open the door however, she had found Shigure actually working…

"Oh yay!" Shigure said looking up and spotting Yuri. "Yuri-chan is back to bother me more about the curse and I can take break from work!"

Yuri looked at the screen on his computer, he really did have word document pulled up, and he was actually working.

"No, sorry to bother you Gure-nii, I'll let you get back to work." She said. He sighed mournfully as she slid the door closed again.

"Why is it you want to break the curse so bad?" Yuri heard an arrogant little voice say behind her. Yuri turned to find Hiro had followed her.

"I thought you considered all this a blessing." He finished; Yuri peered at him, and said slowly,

"But my blessing and the Sohma curse are…different," she paused, "I realize this now." Hiro just looked at her, and Yuri searched for a way to put it.

"You have a new baby sister don't you?" she asked him after awhile. He nodded.

"What of it?"

"Well I have a little brother." Hiro gave her a look, and Yuri explained. "He's six now, but when he was born I wasn't allowed to hold him. Because I would turn into a fox. Not only that but a fox has claws you know……..and they, my father most of all, was afraid I would hurt him. I was ….forbidden to hold him, in fact my father barely let me near him at all, even though he constantly cried out and held his small arms out to me." Yuri paused and looked at the floor.

Yuri wasn't sure how she would handle the Sohma's being released from the curse, but she was trying her best. She was trying her best to overcome her shortcomings and to help her friends the best she could.

"I may think of my "curse" as a blessing but if I can help it, I don't want anyone else to not be able to hold the ones they love."

One thing she knew for sure was that as long as her new friends were happy, she could find happiness as well.

"Why are you doing that?" Hatsuharu asked sharply, bringing Yuri back to the here and now.

"Wha?" Yuri, shook from her musings looked up at him shocked. Haru was normally extremely easygoing; the only time he diverted from his mild manner attitude was when he was provoked. He would snap, and go "Black" and at that point it was impossible to deal with him. But he didn't seem to have changed. Yuri stared at him mystified.

"Doing what?" Yuri asked confused.

"That." Haru said finally. Yuri looked down, she held a handkerchief in her hands and was twisting it this way at that, absent-mindedly. She had been twisting it so hard it looked almost to the point of tearing. Yuri looked at Hatsuharu, still confused,

"Well I don't know…I…"

"Is it cause He isn't here, is that why you are doing it?" he said, still frowning.

"Well…I..I just….my hands just fidgety today I guess, what do you mean?" Yuri said stumbling over her words, trying to grasp what Haru was talking about.

"That's exactly what I mean. Is it because Momiji isn't here that you are doing that? Is it because he isn't here that your hands don't know what to do with themselves?" he asked in a cold, almost cruel tone. Yuri couldn't understand why Haru was acting this way,

"I don't know what you mean Haru. Haru, you seem angry…."

"You are all ways jumping allover Momiji, putting you arms around his neck, or at the very least holding onto his hand or his shirt. When he's not here your hands don't know what to do with themselves." Haru said in that same uncaring tone. Yuri stared at him shocked.

"Haru…." Yuri said slightly hurt and very confused. She couldn't understand why Haru was saying such a thing, and in that manner. That…that was just how you acted around Momiji. It wasn't just her….or maybe it was, but there was a reason for that, Haru should understand. "Haru, why are you acting this way? Have you gone Black?"

His eyes softened at that.

"No," he sighed. "Sorry. I…I'm just annoyed is all. Look I know part of the reason is just that it's Momiji's personality and the fact that neither of you, you most all, are used to being able to be so close with someone of the other gender. Momiji at least has the other zodiac members, you had no one until now….but…..it's not just that is it?"

He gave Yuri look that she would have sworn he could only give when he went Black.

"It's only Momiji that you cling to like that, so it can't just be you craving something you've never had. Is it because you admire Momiji's cheerfulness and carefree attitude so much that you cling to him? Aya does that too. He lets Hatori boss him around because Hatori has qualities that Aya admires and wishes he had himself. Do you cling to Momiji because it makes you feel safe?"

"Safe?" Yuri asked, starting to get angry. At that word she could feel her hackles rising. "SAFE? I'll have you know mister big strong ox; I can take care of myself. I have my wits and my claws, I don't need a rabbit to protect me!"

Yuri's anger was jerked to a halt at Haru's calm words,

"Safe from being sad." Yuri stared at him with large eyes, feeling very strange.

"Do you think," he continued almost angrily, "that if you hang unto him his cheerfulness will rub off on you? Do you feel safe from being lonely? Do you think that if you can just cling to Momiji he will all ways cheer you up? Keep you from closing up in that shell of yours?"

This time it was Haru's anger that was suddenly deflated.

"No…" Yuri said so softly but so forcefully that it caught Haru off guard. He stared at her. "It's because I don't like being away from him. I don't want anyone to take him away from me. I…I don't expect him to all ways be the one cheering me up." Yuri looked down. "Th…That's why I stay close, so I will be there, when the time comes that he needs…..me." Yuri bit her lip,

"Is it wrong Haru, to want to be close to ones you…love?" Yuri asked quietly, staring at her shoes, letting her mass of hair cover her face. Haru couldn't see her eyes but her could hear the tears in her voice.

"Is that how you feel then?" He asked her kindly, brushing the hair from her face so he could see her clearly.

"Yes…" she said meaning it, but refusing to look him in the eye. Haru had been cruel, he knew it and he felt bad.

"It's alright then." He said tousling her hair. She looked up at him, she smiled slightly, but then she frowned, thinking of something.

"It doesn't annoy him does it? Is that why you were saying that?" she asked him.

Haru shook his head. It was something else that Momiji had said that had caused him to act toward Yuri that way.

The three of them all ways walked home from school together, but yesterday, right after Yuri had split ways with them Momiji had said,

"Yuri is great isn't she Haru?" Haru had nodded, "And cute too!" Momiji had finished with a grin. Haru nodded again at that and smiled.

"You know Haru," Momiji continued, "The three of us, we're a trio now!"

"Are we?" Haru asked with a blank look on his face,

"YES!" Momiji beamed. "Just like Yuki, Tohru and Kyo!"

"Does that mean we have to fight over Yuri?" Haru asked seriously. Momiji thought about hard and nodded.

"Yeah I guess so…….yeah. HEY, HEY I call being Kyo!" He said, then he screwed up his face and yelled, "YA DAMN COW!"

Haru looked at him blankly, "Stupid Rabbit." He said, and then paused to think, then shook his head, "It really isn't as much fun as I thought it would be……."

"No," Momiji agreed completely serious.

"It's all the same to me, I like Rin best anyway. And besides, Yuri likes you." Haru said in his regular calm tone.

"Really?" Momiji asked with his head cocked in confusion.

"Yeah," Haru said, "You're the only one she hangs on like that." Momiji thought about this for a moment. "It doesn't annoy you does it?" Haru asked when Momiji didn't reply.

"No!" Momiji said smiling, "I like it! I hug Yuri a lot too, we hug each other. It's nice being able to hug girl you like, not just the ones I've known my whole life….." he paused, Haru looked at him and frowned,

"But you still like Tohru best don't you…..even though……" Haru trailed off.

Momiji nodded, "Yeah…..I like Yuri a lot and she's really cute…..but…….the way I feel about her is different then the way I feel about Tohru…."

"Is that so…." Haru murmured, in a knowing way. He looked over at Momiji who deep in his own thoughts.

"No," Haru said to Yuri firmly, "It's doesn't annoy him." Yuri smiled up at him, overjoyed. It hurt Haru. Yuri cocked her head confused,

"Haru you look sad." she said softly. Haru shook his head and diverted the subject.

"Did you know, we're a trio now. You, Momiji and me. Just like Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo." Haru said seriously.

"Really?" Yuri exclaimed, laughing. "Does that mean you two have to start fighting over me?" she said smiling. Haru nodded,

"And you have to be more clumsy."

"Oh! Hm…." Yuri said thinking, in mock seriousness. "Ah!" she said spotting something to bang her head on, which she promptly did.

"Ow!" she said placing a hand on her injury, "You know that's not as much fun as I thought it would be……" Yuri laughed and Haru grinned.

"Haru, tell me…" Yuri said after a while, "You still seem sad, what is it?"

"I'm not sad. " Haru said calmly denying it, "I 'm just still a little annoyed." Yuri looked at him,

"Well what is 'annoying' you then?" She asked again. Haru winced,

"Well…" he said reluctantly telling her the truth, "It was the thought Yuri-chan's feelings being hurt. That really annoyed me." Yuri stared at him,

"And," Haru continued, "If he makes Yuri-chan cry, I will…get angry." Yuri blinked surprised, and then smiled brightly.

"Haru-kun is very kind. You are always looking after me" she mused, then she looked up and him and smiled warmly.

_"I may think of my "curse" as a blessing but if I can help it I don't want anyone else to not be able to hold the ones they love."_

Hiro regarded her for a moment, with an expression almost like approval and then nodded and walked away.

"You're too hard on yourself." Yuri turned to find Shigure. Yuri wondered, startled if he had been listening the whole time.

"What do you mean Gure-nii?"

"You're trying so hard to break the curse, yet you know it will make you lonely if you do." Yuri stared at him with wide eyes, how had he known? How had he guessed that some small awful part of her would be sad if the curse was broken.

"It's pretty pathetic isn't it?" Yuri muttered distastefully. Shigure shook his head.

"It's admirable. You know it will hurt you but you try hard anyway, for our sakes." He sighed, "It's okay to be happy you know and to want to keep that happiness."

Yuri stared at him, and then looked at the floor. Once again he had hit the mark. Had she been afraid to be happy? Had she been thinking she wasn't entitled to be… happy? Had that been it along? All this time she had tried to make herself happy over her 'blessing,' something that had caused her a lot of hurt through years.

But it was more complicated than that wasn't it? Some parts of her blessing were in fact 'blessings' but some were 'curses'. The same way that breaking the Sohma cruse would make her happy as well as sad.

"It's not all that simple is it?" Yuri said, quietly. "A Curse, a Blessing. It's not all that black and white. _Life's_ not all that black and white. Happiness…Sadness…." Yuri trailed off.

"Why does it always have to be just one or the other?" Shigure pointed out. "Why does everyone think it's all that simple?"

Yuri nodded, finally feeling like she understood.

**END OF CHAPTER 11**


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fruit's basket or the some of the conversation in the first half of this chapter along with other scattered phrases in italics because they are quotes from the Fruits Basket manga, volume 20, they are someone's translations of natsuki takaya's words so I didn't write them. Thank you.

**A/N: **First of allI want to thank you all sooo much for reviewing! Thank you!

Also, the are **spoilers ** from volume 20 in this.

But anyway, Please Enjoy and Please Review!

**CHAPTER 12:**

That afternoon during lunch, Yuri and Hatsuharu wandered around, trying to find where Momiji had run off too. Instead of Momiji they found Yuki,

"Have you seen…Momiji today?" Haru asked Yuki calmly, Yuri waited for his answer apprehensively.

"Eh? I haven't seen him. Maybe he isn't here?" Yuki replied startled. Haru shook his head.

"No…he's here, although he came late, but…….maybe it's just me…" Haru looked up at the ceiling, musing. Yuri stared at the floor, fists clenched. She too had noticed something odd about Momiji, not to mention that he had dashed out of class, without them when the lunch period had started.

"Did something happen?" Yuki asked concerned. Yuri let Haru answer.

"Nothing. But…I wonder….something's…strange… He's the same as always, but…somehow…something's a bit…." Haru trailed off.

"I can talk to him, assuming he arrives." Yuki suggested.

"Ah…" the three of them turned to find Tohru striding towards them.

"Good afternoon." She said politely.

"Tohru!" Yuri said smiling, perhaps Momiji had went to find Tohru, that would make sense. Surely Tohru knew where Momiji was.

"Ah, good afternoon. Honda-san have you seen Momiji?" Haru asked calmly.

"Eh? Not today, is something wrong?"

"I wonder is there is…" Haru murmured vaguely

"Eh? Eh? What's g-g-going o-o-on?" Tohru exclaimed, looking extremely worried. She waved her hands around frantic.

"Haru!" Yuki said, scolding the younger boy for worrying Tohru like that.

"Nn?" Haru replied not understanding. Yuki just ignored him.

"Honda-san, that's not it. Haru was just asking. " Yuki said trying to reassure Tohru.

"Oh…Y-yes" Tohru said trying to calm down. "….Oh!" she said suddenly spotting something behind Yuri's head. Yuri turned to find Kyo walking towards them.

"It's you!" Tohru exclaimed. Yuri didn't hear the rest because she had spotted a blonde head across the way. Someone was looking through the windows at them, more specifically Tohru and Kyo, from across the courtyard. It was certainly Momiji. She dashed down the hall, not even noticing that she had gone the same direction that Kyo had just stalked off in.

She realized she must have when she came up behind him and Momiji.

"Huh? Momiji? Have you seen the others?" Kyo asked, startled by the way Momiji was standing, bent over slightly, clutching his chest. It startled Yuri too, and she held back. Something told her she shouldn't interrupt. So she didn't turn the corner into the hall they were in, but stayed behind it, listening.

"Have you…. … " Kyo asked again, when Momiji didn't reply.

"What?" Momiji said, looking up, he looked distracted and wholly unlike himself.

"Huh?"

"Ah…no." Momiji said finally, realizing what Kyo had asked him. Kyo looked at him bewildered.

"…? …Did…something happen…to you?" he asked hesitantly. Completely unable to handle such a calm and distant Momiji.

"My curse was released." Momiji said matter of fact. Kyo just stared at him shocked.

"Would you be surprised if I told you that?" Momiji said, a sad little smile on his lips.

"Huh? Why would you…" Kyo started, clearly surprised and confused. Momiji looked sadly out the window.

"More than my release…if you were released…Tohru would be happy. She would be really happy. But…" Momiji paused, and Yuri listening, gasped inwardly. She didn't want to hear such things, it really…hurt. She had known, for awhile now, Momiji really liked Tohru, but to hear him actually say such things….. She wanted to turn and leave, but something held her there. She admitted sadly to herself, she was curious. Once again her curious nature was doing her in.

"…You know?" Momiji continued sadly, "I'm the one…being crushed."

Momiji walked away from a shocked Kyo,

"Don't tell me." Kyo said as Momiji walked past him and towards the corner that Yuri was hiding behind.

"I don't want…to know that…to know such things…that's the worst…." Kyo said stricken. Momiji didn't respond, he kept walking down the hall.

When he turned the corner he found himself face to face with a wide-eyed Yuri. She planted herself directly in front of him.

"Is it true?" she exclaimed suddenly. "Is your curse lifted?" She bit her lip, trying to control herself. But that small smile that didn't reach his pained eyes that Momiji put on when he nodded was too much. She began to cry. Tears poured from her eyes, and she clenched her sides as she sobbed. Momiji looked at her horrified. He reached for her, but he checked himself. His hands held barely an inch away from her.

Yuri looked up at him, he was so close, but he felt so far away. It wrenched her heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She mumbled, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry, you must be so happy, Momiji. Really, I'm sorry." She said, standing up straight and wrapping her arms around herself. Momiji just stared at her; finally he let his suspended hands drop.

"I'm sorry for ruining this for you." Yuri said, squeezing her arms around herself tighter, in effort to stop her trembling. Momiji shook his head,

"No, don't worry about…" he mumbled lamely, not sure what to do. He was very unused to Yuri crying like this, or rather crying at all. It wasn't a side of her he had seen all that much of.

"It's just….." she began. "I just can't stand the thought of being so far away from you." Momiji stared at her, unable to speak. Yuri looked at the floor, feeling really stupid. She knew she was being silly and she was crying over nothing. She knew she should be happy for Momiji. But….

"I'm sorry for not realizing earlier." Momiji said suddenly, bridging that gap that, to Yuri seemed to span miles, and laying a hand on her cheek. Yuri looked up at him startled.

"I thought…that what I wanted was for someone to be happy for me. The more happy for me than they would be for anyone else. I was upset because I knew that it would make her a lot happier if Kyo had been the one released from his curse." He paused, "But now I realize it wasn't that at all. Now I see what I really wanted was someone to care about me so much that the thought of being away from me would make them cry." Momiji grabbed her hand and held it tightly, he smiled softly at her.

"It makes me so happy to have you here to cry for me."

He had told Akito that even though he was free he couldn't be with the one he loved.

_I'm so free, and yet….I became…so lonely. Although the curse is removed I still can't be with the person I love…._

He knew that was true, but really….he had been seeing everything so wrong. It had been so natural he almost hadn't noticed it. He had been so used to Yuri being there that he had taken that fact for granted. He had told Haru just the day before that he felt differently about Tohru than he did Yuri. That too, had been true.

When he thought of Yuri not being there, that made him considerably more sad than the thought of Tohru being with Kyo and not him. Tohru was the first person that had cared about him that wasn't a member of the zodiac. She had a special place in his heart for that. And really when he thought about it, Tohru had been like the mother he never had. Yuki had said as much as well. Momiji, like Yuki, _had been looking for a Mother in her._ Tohru was important to him, but the person most important to him was…..Yuri.

"Thank you, thank you." Momiji said softly to Yuri, leaning forward and putting his forehead against hers. Yuri looked up at him blushing. It was strange really that this small touch was more intimate than any of the hugs they had ever given each other.

"Can you ever forgive me for not seeing it before?" he asked he softly. Yuri nodded, smiling slightly. He smiled brightly, acting more like himself. Yuri was relieved.

Then…..

He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. When he pulled away Yuri looked up at him, blushing and completely shocked. He smiled.

"That…" Yuri began to say, but it turned into. "Tohru!" Yuri exclaimed seeing the brown haired girl walking towards them. Seeing how close Momiji and Yuri were standing next to each other and the way Momiji was standing over Yuri, his head bent close to hers, Tohru blushed furiously and began to wave her hands in front of herself frantically.

"I'm sorry! I've interrupted something! Sorry! I'm really sorry…." Tohru mumbled embarrassed. Momiji stood up and smiled at her.

"Tohru!" he called running towards her in his normal way. For a second Yuri's heart stopped, but Momiji's hand was still clasping hers and she ended up coming along with him.

"Tohru, guess what?" Momiji exclaimed. Tohru blinked. "I have a girl-friend now! Isn't she cute?" Both Tohru and Yuri looked at Momiji shocked.

"T-that's so great!" Tohru exclaimed happily. Yuri didn't say anything, completely confused.

"You know Momiji you really should ask people things like that." Yuki said exasperated, as he walked up to them, noticing the shocked expression on Yuri's face.

"Oh…" Momiji said. "I guess you're right." He turned to Yuri smiling. "Will you go out with me?" he asked, holding both her hands. It was so strange hearing those words, but so…nice. Blushing and still slightly in shock Yuri nodded.

"Yay!" Momiji cried. As he gave Yuri a small kiss on her cheek, making her blush even more, Haru and Kyo joined the group too. Kyo followed Haru guiltily; he had been the one to tell Haru, Yuki and Tohru were Momiji was.

"Kyo! It's so great! Momiji and Yuri…"Tohru began enthused. Yuri didn't hear the rest; she was looking at Haru, who was observing the whole thing, calm as ever.

Yuri caught Haru's eye and he smiled knowingly. Uncharacteristically he winked at her, and she laughed slightly. Everything had worked out as he had hoped. Which was good; anymore of Momiji's clueless-ness would have made him go Black. Any way you looked at it; it would not have been a good scenario.

Yuri smiled to herself. Happy, amongst a group of good friends, holding tightly to Momiji's hand….it was more that she could have dreamed, more than she could have hoped. She felt, really and truly……

Blessed.

**END OF CHAPTER 12**


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